This time of year, when I am not reading OS, or noticing how much earlier the sun is setting (already!), one of my favorite things to do is listen for whales at www.orca-live.net.

Most of the time, what you hear are the ambient noises of Johnstone Strait: lapping waves,… Read full post »

Calling All Northwesterners (including you too, Canadians!)

What: Anniversary Party to Celebrate the First Year of Open Salon

When: Thursday April 16, 6 p.m.-  8 (or whenever)

Seeing the stories on the cover of Open Salon today reminded me of my own little adventure at the Playboy mansion. Don’t get too excited, it wasn’t like that.

It was 1973, and I was a junior in high school. Two friends and I were on our way from the… Read full post »

It's not the practice that grates, but what we are calling it. 

You know I love this place.  And I really don't mind getting notices of the new things you've written, or pointers to things you think I'd like to read. In fact, I like it, because I'd miss a lot… Read full post »

Just FYI - I tried to view my Editor's Pick list today, and wasn't able to click on anything past the first page of entries. (Yes, I have more than one page of Editor's Picks. Don't look so surprised! And yes, I, um, like to look at them every once in… Read full post »

Nah, not that kind....

I'm going to Baja for 11 days and I won't be bringing a laptop. You know what that means...no OS! No comments, no posts, no Freaky, no squirrel...what am I gonna do!!

Oh, that's right. I'm going to be on a boat in the Sea of Cortez… Read full post »

 1. I have spent the night on a schooner drifting among humpback whales in Alaska, their blows echoing across  Frederick Sound.

2. The northern lights are one of the most awe-inspiring, naturally psychedelic things I have ever seen. Great bursts of color draped across the sky… Read full post »

It’s snowing in Seattle! The weather people have been predicting it for days, and this time, they got it right. It’s a light snow, for now, but it is sticking, and the world has been transformed.

Snow always makes me giddy. Maybe it’s a result of growing up in… Read full post »

 (Most Read, Saturday 11/22, 1:30 PST)

I may have found my genre.... Read full post »

While everyone was scurrying around posting their avatars for the OS collage, this was the Top Rated list at around 8:30 tonight:

 

I thought it was really funny... I only wish it was 101 words ;) I'm trying to think of a good title... Read full post »

With its high ceilings and velvet couch, it does not feel like a glasses store. She picks out a black pair with crystals on the stems. “Ooh - so You!”

I am not sure.

She pulls another pair, titanium from Japan.

“Also hip!” the sales chorus sings.… Read full post »

Joining the song meme party. Thanks for the invitation, umbrellakinesis!

Who are you?
Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe…
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million
suns it calls me on and… Read full post »

…is over."

I looked up this quote today while commenting on DogWoman’s blog because I couldn’t remember who said it. I was a little surprised to find that it was Gerald Ford, as part of his inauguration speech. Or more accurately, the remarks he gave after being sworn in as p… Read full post »

I’ve been having a rough couple of days. There are a lot of things I am supposed to be working on, but somehow I couldn’t get myself to move on any of them. And the longer it goes like that, the worse it gets. Like a hoar frost spreading into… Read full post »

The first major gusts of the season tore through here last week, shutting down power and scattering trees, as if announcing the change. My thoughts turn again to Jesse, because this is the month in which he died.

Steven J. Bernstein, aka Jesse, was a writer, an ex-junkie, and… Read full post »

 Today is John Lennon’s birthday. He would have been 68. I was completely inspired by Diane Martin’s story about meeting him, and thought we needed some official place to celebrate. 

 John was *always* my favorite Beatle, from the time we used to act out scene… Read full post »

Iris, Bloedel Reserve 

Waterfall, Bloedel Reserve

Waterfall, Chiapas 

Palenque in Shrouds, Chiapas 

Puget Sound Sunset 1 

Puget Sound Sunset 2 

  Congratulations, Susan!

  Read full post »

listening to the blue jays 

the look 

fierce kitty (Sam)

handsome boy (he knows it) 

thinking about it 

 thinking about it, too

 focus

attacking the string 

The End.

  Read full post »

Waaay back in the 90s  in Seattle there was a great comedy show called Almost Live that aired on Saturday nights. One of the ongoing sketches - besides the Middle Management Suck-ups, the High-Fivin' White Guys, and Bill Nye the Science Guy - was a segment called The Lame List (or,… Read full post »

Last week I went to a conference at Sleeping Lady, a resort in the Cascades about 3 hours northeast of Seattle. It is nestled in Icicle Canyon, and takes its name from the mountain behind it.

Icicle Creek and Sleeping Lady 

Sleeping Lady and Clouds … Read full post »

Caution: this story includes a link to the song “Beach Baby." If you listen to it, you will not be able to get it out of your head.

Recently I watched a movie called The Mayor of the Sunset Strip, which tells the story of Rodney Bingenheimer, a seminal/… Read full post »

If I can distract you for a moment from the shocking news about the Freaky Troll campaign, here is a link to an article that summarizes Sarah Palin’s record on the environment. It was written by Rick Steiner, a professor at the University of Alaska, and was published in the Seattle… Read full post »

Dear Readers, Friends, and Freaky Troll,

Very soon I will be on a ferry, headed north again to Desolation Sound. 

 We will be swimming here:

 and eating these:

avoiding these: