It’s not easy to describe how it felt when California passed Proposition 8 – banning same-sex marriages – last week. The same happened in Oregon four years ago. We search for words to express how it feels to know that secretly (and openly) 52% of people hate us. We rage and we cry and we [...]

Mine is a pretty cynical generation. Most of us in our 30s have spent the majority of our lives in a recession, in a war over oil, facing climate change, and enduring political parties that fail to inspire much less to lead us to a better tomorrow. We’ve lacked hope that things will get better, [...]

Whatever you do today, wherever you are, get out there and vote! If you’re in a vote-by-mail state like me, then go hand in your ballot if you haven’t already. This is it, folks, this is your single chance to express your most precious right as an American. I don’t care what your politics are, [...]

Between Muxtape, Twitter, and KEXP I’ve discovered a lot of new-to-me music in the last few months. Normally, I’d share my latest favorites through my monthly Muxtape, but now that the RIAA has shut that down I’ll have to settle for an iMix of my favorite songs from each album.
Two artists didn’t make it on [...]

Put aside ideas of “real Americans” and “pro-American” parts of the country and the divisive rhetoric from both political parties. Look around you. Take in what you see, and realize that we can’t become a better city, state, or nation without each other — in spite of our differences.
This is the change we need.
(Thanks to [...]

How often have you heard someone say “Well, I need room to haul stuff…” when contemplating a new car purchase? This mythical “stuff” becomes the rationalization for buying an SUV or station wagon with enough room to haul around large objects. People poo-poo the Prius or similar sized cars as not having enough room for [...]

I sent this email to the Obama/Biden campaign earlier today after reading Obama’s stance on Proposition 8 in California, same-sex marriage, and his Faith & Family tour.

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Dear Obama/Biden Campaign,
I’ve been a big fan of the whole “change” campaign since the beginning, and feel like Obama can offer the nation some hope in the face of [...]

Maybe it’s that I’ve played team sports since I was 5, but I love me a team. Not watching teams, but being part of one. I love the cameraderie, the friendly competition, the way the whole transcends the sum of its parts to become something new, better, more awesome. Nothing brings this home for me [...]

Remember in high school when you had to read Homer’s Odyssey? Your teacher probably bored you with discussions of archetypes, heroes, and a whole lot of crazy Greek gods, goddesses, and weird offspring and creatures like Charybdis. Maybe if you had a really cool teacher and you got to watch Star Wars as a treat, [...]

When I think of coal used for energy, I think of China, filthy air, dire situations, under-developed nations, the iron-grip of Communism. Coal is the fuel of Tolstoy and World War I and the Eastern Block, a phantom from the early 20th century, a black spot on our environmental history. Coal is up there with [...]