Look at my Belly Button!

April, 2018: Down the street from Stone Way Cafe is MiiR, a coffee shop boasting sleek, hard benches, so much concrete construction there’s no cell reception, and and sour beers on tap. MiiR would never host an open mic. There’s a coworking space in the back for people to rent out, which is currently occupied…

You’d Look Better with your Sleeves Rolled Up.

Late March, 2018: I’m at Stone Way Cafe, and I came here to work on writing my as yet-untitled book, but you, sir, are up on the stage playing guitar and I can’t look away. You’re the fourth act of open mic—it’s 5:30, too damn early for an open mic—and you’re 28, you just said…

A Conversation I Heard on the Bus

I boarded the 40 around noon on Thursday and there weren't many people on it, but there was a woman with sensible pink lipstick and cropped gray hair and a pleasant demeanor speaking with a man across the aisle who had a red beard and a dirty reusable grocery bag full of old things and…

My Google Search History

I'm writing a book. It's about... just click that link. I'm halfway through a painstaking round of edits: so far, I've got through Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Bulgaria, Albania, and Zambia. I'm keeping a list of everything I've fact-checked. why scary airplane landing tegucigalpa la ermita meaning honduras how dangerous ranking what's up with rebar cinderblock…

The Toilet at Poo Poo Point: a Daydream.

I finished working at 11, so I put some cheese, an apple, and a day-old pistachio-blackberry croissant in the passenger seat and drove to Issaquah to hike to Poo Poo Point, a knoll on the side of Tiger Mountain. The Washington Trails Association is adamant that Poo Poo Point is named for the train whistles…