Speaking of things that bum me out…. I can totally understand the desire to shake things up over at Mariners HQ. I agree that the locker room could probably use a little chaos and energy. But I’d rather see the Mariners play another losing season than watch them turn into the fucking Oakland Raiders. This […]

Having not worked in Pioneer Square for about five months now, this article took me by surprise and bums me out big time. David Ishii is a Pioneer Sq. staple. Every time you walk by his store, you see the back of his white hat and know that all is right in Seattle. He brought […]

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture by author Simon Winchester. He mostly talked about his latest book, which details the San Francisco fire and earthquake and aftermath of each 100 years ago. Winchester is brilliant and adorable and a great speaker. He’s also a geologist by trade, so there was much talk of […]

Ovarian cancer scares me. It’s what my paternal grandmother died of and, maybe because I’m about to turn 30, I’ve been feeling extra protective of my baby maker lately. So I’ve decided I’m going to start drinking green tea instead of decaf eggnog lattes in the morning. Starting Jan. 1, of course. Cafe Ladro has […]

I love Hollywood gossip. I like to think I’m fairly intellectual. I can have meaningful conversations about important books, indie movies, good music. I appreciate art and food and wine. But I love going to the dentist and catching up on back issues of US Weekly. And I gobble my Entertainment Weekly as soon as […]

A few weeks ago, GTB came to Seattle and got to, as he put it, see how I roll. Last weekend, I got to see how he rolls in Portland. This Saturday , he will have the unique honor of seeing how they roll in Hometown. That’s right, I’m taking him home. Put in simplest […]

While in Portland this last weekend, GTB would be driving me through some vaguely familiar neighborhood and I’d say something like, “Isn’t Lloyd Center right over there?” or “Are we close to the Convention Center?” I hadn’t been to Portland in at least four years, but growing up in Hometown, it was the closest thing […]

Since my mom is now a proud member of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, a group I have great affinity and admiration for, she gets their email newsletter. She forwarded the latest issue to me because she thought I’d enjoy a letter that was included. I did enjoy it. So much so that I’m pasting […]

Over breakfast Sunday morning, The Boy asked, “Are you label-phobic?” I was stuffing a really good omlette down my throat at the time and didn’t hear him clearly. “What?” I asked. “Do you have a phobia of labels?” he repeated. “Is he talking about fashion?” I wondered to myself. I mean, he is a snazzier […]

A week or so ago, someone walked into my mom’s not-quite-opened store and asked her, “What’s this?” She glanced around at the half-filled book shelves, the piles and boxes of books, the cash register, the counter decorated with vintage book covers, and replied “It’s going to be a pet store.” Dumbass. Witnessing my mom as […]