“We’re all just trash, waiting to be thrown away! That’s what all a toy is!” Lotso argues with Woody in Toy Story 3. “You were made to be thrown away. Ain’t one kid ever loved a toy, really.” We were in line this weekend at the City of Lakewood’s wonderful Community Cleanup program. In partnership […]
Letter: “Where’d they go?”
If my favorite snack before bedtime is ice-cream (and it is), then my favorite morning breakfast cereal is Raisin Bran. If I get a chance to eat it. If she sees me heading from the kitchen to my worktable with cereal in hand, then there will be the patter of little bare feet following. I […]
Letter: Ditto the daisy
She had purchased a pack of miscellaneous seeds for a dollar. Suddenly, overnight seemingly, a Jack-and-the-Beanstalk sequel, three sunflowers – as they would turn out to be although mystifying they were initially – burst on the scene, one, even before it blossomed, reaching a whopping 76 inches, above the window. Though five-times shorter than the […]
Letter: A mayhem motivational manual
For those who support “the mass expropriation of property, mass shoplifting during a moment of upheaval or riot” you’ll be happy to know you have a fellow agitator in Vicky Osterweil who’s written a mayhem motivational manual of sorts which she titles “In Defense of Looting.” Natalie Escobar interviewed the czar of chaos upon the […]
Letter: Could you live here?
Perhaps you’ve seen the invitation. You’d have to go without cable, phone, internet, electricity, water, and indoor plumbing. But, in my opinion, my gosh, I’m there in a heartbeat. Because here’s where you’d be, and the 10-inch band of wallpaper bordered in strips of cedar that circumscribe the walls in my purposefully designed rustic office […]
Letter: A high-speed train through the heart
The Tacoma News Tribune Editorial Board, August 27, suggests Sound Transit representatives – who met with the Lakewood City Council this week – want to “restore public confidence” in Amtrak before 79-mph trains are run (again) “through the heart” of Lakewood. “Restore public confidence.” “If they get their act together, they just might improve public […]
Letter: Black Lives Matter?
“A Colorado man was arrested after a stabbing in which the assailant called out ‘black lives matter’ before stabbing the victim, according to news reports.” The assailant was black. The victim was white and was stabbed while walking his dog. “The Marlins and Mets walk off the field in protest and leave a BLM shirt […]
Letter: Our common humanity
From crossing the border into Tijuana, to threading the active barricades that serve as the checkpoint boundary of a U.S. military installation, what we learned. No sé dónde está el baño. It was the one phrase I knew but an important one. And the young man understood, smiled, and pointed. Thankfully. On the hot, dusty […]
Letter: A tribute to foster parents, and those who parent on purpose
It was a great national crisis, a most critical moment in their entire history. While the individual who stood at the crossroads – faced with a desperate choice, with destiny or destruction dependent on their decision – would receive the preponderance of accolades, it was their foster parent, the one who raised them, who had […]