Soft Life, Hard Lessons: Swipe Left on My Spirit
Let me bring you into my soft-life laboratory, because post-divorce dating has a sense of humor I did not sign up for. I told myself I’d try something new. Stretch my faith. Dip a toe into modern romance.
So I downloaded Bumble and Hinge.
Yes. Me.
A grown woman with three children, all my edges, rooted faith, and a therapist who said, “We ain’t taking this ish into 2026.”
Queer Up-and-Comer Alise Garcia Chats Lezztalkaboutit’s Accessible Events
Back in November, I had the privilege of covering the Performative Femme Contest hosted by Alise Garcia of Lezztalkaboutit. It was a stunning display of Queer community. Recently, Alise and I met up for coffee to discuss the purpose of Lezztalkaboutit and what she has in store for the future. We also discussed the importance of community and what it takes to build one.
The Ink Drinker Brings Together Bibliophiles, Beverage Lovers in Ballard
The Ink Drinker, which opened last month, has a substantial number of books open to the public. Even if you forget your current or feel-good read, there is no excuse not to join in on the fun. Although you cannot check them out, rows and rows of books stand resolute as they call individuals inward. Even if one’s literary tastes differ from another, every person can appreciate and find refuge or a second home here.
An Ode to the Occidental Square Ice Rink
There was one person doing laps around the rink with speed and grace and not falling on her back every three steps like the rest of us. I jealously wondered if she had brought her own skates, and if the blades had been sharpened, unlike our dull footwear. Someone told me that this is what professional figure skaters train on, which confused me even more. Because HOW??
What Does Accountability Really Mean?
The word “accountability” seems impossible to avoid for anyone paying attention. Repeatedly, people with power abuse their position. Repeatedly, communities clamor for accountability, a just outcome for all affected persons, and satisfying solutions that will excise the rot from which harm festers and breeds. It is difficult not to feel disillusioned by the usual wishy-washy or dismissive responses, feigned ignorance, and lack of material progress in terms of repairing harm and promoting safety. How are we supposed to hold people accountable, so to speak, if they won’t take accountability?
Perennial Conventions: An Invitation
As we approach the Winter Solstice, it is an appropriate time to remember the cyclical rhythms that guide our world. These rhythms are constant and the effects they have on us are evident, but in the pursuit of capital and perfect efficiency, we humans have lost the familiarity with the world around us…and I truly believe it is destroying our ability to cope.
Life on the Moon Powerfully Illuminates Familial, Autistic Expression
On December 14, I was lucky enough to attend the PNW premiere of Life on the Moon, a play written by Anna Tatelman, directed by Jeremy Radick, and produced by Baker Theater Workshop. Hosted at ReAct Theatre, Life on the Moon is a family drama that centers on the relationship between siblings Piper, an 18-year-old with autism, and her older brother Spencer, who has just returned home from the army for the holidays.
Communion Restaurant & Bar: Homecoming on a Plate
Communion Restaurant & Bar sits inside the historic Liberty Bank Building in the heart of Seattle’s Central District. For me, this wasn’t just dinner; it was a return to my roots. I grew up on 20th & Union, and this exact spot used to be Thompson’s Point of View, a restaurant I frequented all through elementary school. Eating here felt like stepping into a memory with a modern twist.
Parker’s Pages: The Last Dragon Chronicles
Dear reader, if you would indulge me during this absolutely heinous Seattle winter (I’m looking at you, atmospheric river!) and let me introduce you to a beloved childhood gem of mine, I would be most grateful. While we are taking quite a big step away from the Puget Sound this month and going across the pond to England, I promise this little trip will be well worth it. If you need something warm and cozy to read like I do, read on.
Sound Cinema: Central Cinema
Central Cinema looks incredibly industrial from the outside, but once inside, it's a single screen of terrific movie magic.
The building that houses Central Cinema in Seattle's Central District was erected in the late 1920s and has housed both a car dealership and a milk bottling plant. The idea to turn a piece of the space into a combination movie theater and pub came to Kevin Spitzer, a metal artist, when he was renting it as his studio. In summer 2005, Kevin and his wife Kate opened the theater and have been operating it in the 20 years since.
Soft Life, Hard Lessons: The Art of Healing Out Loud
There are seasons when life gets so loud, whispering stops working. You stop tiptoeing and walking on eggshells around your own truth. You stop shrinking to make other people comfortable. You stop pretending you're “fine” when your soul is over there banging pots, trying to be heard and have that hurt validated. At some point, you match the volume. That’s where I’ve been — healing OUT LOUD. Not in a reckless way, not in a messy way, but in a “my heart said testify” kind of way.
![The Divided Line: Caleb [Part 1]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/65456cf1d440cc19dd37c744/2ffbf9f8-6e52-46fa-94c9-7a0eeecc9b13/Umut_Sarialan+Pexels+Cropped+-+Calista+Robbins.jpg)
The Divided Line: Caleb [Part 1]
Drums rolled from the brick alleyways and converged upon the square, each musician followed by a small mass of people. They carried things with them: Bits of furniture and fragments of wood. Dresser drawers and desk tops. One group hoisted a billboard overhead from one of the Upper City’s tech institutions.
Crow’s Nest Comics Establishes Inclusive Shop in Central District
Crow’s Nest Comics, formerly the beloved Outsider Comics shop of Fremont, has made the move to a much cozier location in Central District, just a tiny walk from I-90 (or the 7 or 554 bus will get you just a block away). Though the shop has moved and changed names, they are still offering their warm, inviting atmosphere, stunning collection, and commitment to accessibility, all from a better location.
Evergreen Style: Seattle Fat Mall
One of the greatest joys about fashion is finding the perfect fit. Yet for fat or plus-size shoppers, that joy is rare, often overshadowed by an exhausting search for options that barely exist.
Earlier this year, in partnership with Seattle Restored, the Seattle Fall Mall emerged as a pop-up community space in Downtown Seattle where being fat or plus-size was centered and celebrated.
For eight months, the founders—Amber and Alyss Seelig, Candace Frank, and Kwame Phillips-Solomon—brought together local artists and fashion designers who challenge industry norms through body positivity and collective liberation.
Soft Life, Hard Lessons: The Price of Peace
So here I am: rebuilding, relearning, re-everything. Washington State, bless its procedural little heart, makes you wait a full 90 days before you can even finalize a divorce. Raggedy. I could’ve been free by now, had my soon-to-be-ex not spent nine rounds avoiding the process server like it was tag at recess. So yes, I’m irritated.
I winced when my therapist—a doctor, mind you—named him a narcissist who love-bombed me at the beginning. You could’ve held my hand for that, sis.
The Return on Silver Screen Proves Why Fans Come Back to Twin Peaks
I have watched The Return several times now since its release in 2017. Each time, it feels like descending into a cave that should feel familiar—haven’t you been here a hundred times already? And yet, each descent into the third season of Twin Peaks feels almost alien. There are always hidden caverns to explore, new narrative threads to pull and unravel that often feel like they lead you nowhere.
Twin Peaks: The Return Offers Meditation on Grief, Feeling Life in the Moment
Two days after the dream, I entered a darkly lit theater in Northwest Film Forum to the familiar sound of the synth-heavy, nostalgic yet eerie Twin Peaks theme song, and shuffled into a seat. I was about to spend two hours watching episodes five and six of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), as part of a collaborative screening of the entire 18-episode season held by Northwest Film Forum, SIFF, The Beacon, and The Grand Illusion Cinema between November 13 and December 16 of this year. I had only watched the first four episodes of the first season of David Lynch’s masterpiece series set in our home state. But there I sat, going in blind.
Studio 18 Supports Emerging Artists with Shared Delusions
Their exhibit opened to the public for a one-day event on Saturday, November 15 at Studio 18 Artist Collective. “This is a very historically [sic] arts building. They used to throw raves here in the ‘90s, early 2000s,” Reinhardt stated. The building is tucked beside train tracks underneath busy roadways—empty and bustling all at once. At the top of a thin staircase was the gallery opening, alive with visitors and music.
Local Filmmaker Shea Formanes Chats New Short Diwata, Production Process
Last year I was privileged to speak with local filmmaker Shea Formanes about her first feature, I Watched Her Grow. Recently, Shea and I spoke again, this time about shooting a short film she is currently working on. We spoke about her process and how this particular film, titled Diwata (a Filipino word meaning “muse”) went from an idea into her current project. We also went into great detail about how a film like this gets made and the partnerships she found along the way.
Nebula’s Portals to Immersive Experiences Rise from Cafe Nordo’s Remnants
In the winter of 2022, Cafe Nordo, a company who created beloved immersive theater and dining experiences within Pioneer Square’s Nord Alley, closed its doors and set its gaze to a dream of the future. After thirty original productions hosted in its two venues, the Culinarium and the Knife Room, the company decided to seek out a larger, more accessible home to produce and sustain boundless creativity. As they searched for real estate with sufficient accommodations, the dream world began to take shape. A rift, so to say, opened beneath Cafe Nordo, and out emerged Nebula.
