As I’m writing this, it is Sunday afternoon. It feels like an early fall day already. It’s brown meadow season with bright blue skies, hardly a cloud, eye-popping flower colors, and a mellowness of air that betrays that the hottest days this year are over. My head feels dizzy, and I’m looking at Mt. Rainier […]
To Ponder
Broken Hearts, Tears, and Shattered Dreams
Some of my friends are Republicans and as far as I can determine they are still backing President Donald Trump. I have never seen anything worthy about him and my estimations of his worth have only gone down, so I was shocked a few days ago when I came across a YouTube video of a […]
Westside Story – Superhero
Contributor – Melvin R. Van Iderstein, Jr. Covid-19 is overrunning us as it totally weaves itself in and around every facet of our lives. Staying in place and quarantining ourselves does have the benefit of providing us with the opportunity to contemplate the issues of the day. One of my loyal readers, Melvin R. Van […]
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 […]
Westside Story – Native Son Becomes Film Star
Today is a proud day in the life of my Westside Story readers. My friends predicted it would be a snowy day in August before I could ever hope to land a part in a movie. The next thing they knew, I was spotted in a film trailer. My full-length film, Lemonheads, has been selected […]
Our friend, Justice Helen Whitener
Almost three years ago Peg and I attended a fund-raising dinner for Catherine Place, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women. Here is their mission: “We are committed to addressing the particular needs of women who are materially poor, in transition, or facing the daily challenges associated with poverty, loss, violence, immigration and illness.” We […]
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 […]
Westside Story – A Sign of The Time
This morning I thought I would write a fascinating column comparing Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Not long after beginning my first draft, I became acutely aware my readers already suffer from an overdose of daily news on this very topic. Having scrapped Joe and Donald, I am left to ponder, “What shall I write […]
Racism, Riots, and Recognition of our Problem
Here we go, again. Black man shot . . . by police . . . unarmed . . . in the back. One has to wonder if our police officers across the nation are just down right stupid, badly trained, simply afraid . . . or actually racists. “This certainly is not the first time […]