Calista Robbins 8/3/26 Calista Robbins 8/3/26

Discovery Park: Sisyphus

The ceiling leaked. Drops, thick and rhythmic, plummeting into the metal pail he had set beneath it. Outside, the waves pulsed and raged against the sandy spit like the heaving breaths of an ailing god.

Here, at the cusp of Neptune’s domain, Alfred kept watch, kept time.

Gray Harrison 8/2/26 Gray Harrison 8/2/26

Woodland Park: Sunrise

In the green space adjacent to the playground, someone was walking a lab whose tail was set to autowag. I crossed through the playground and entered the deserted parking lot of the Woodland Park Zoo, big pine boughs above me. Past the parking lot was a narrow dirt trail that skirted the northern perimeter of the zoo down to I-99 and then turned up the eastern perimeter before crossing a cement bridge. This bridge always felt like the entrance into Narnia, with two lampposts glowing at the far end.

Zach Youngs 7/31/26 Zach Youngs 7/31/26

Movies by the Tower: A Super Year 5

There are many summer events that draw crowds—maybe from out of town, or even out of state—but sometimes the sweetest summer event is the one from your own community.

Lynette Evans 7/30/26 Lynette Evans 7/30/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: Apps, Groveling Exes, and The Hug Barometer

If you had told me at the beginning of this year that I’d be simultaneously navigating 10 Jerry Springer Show seasons worth of dating apps, receiving apology tours from exes a decade late, and coaching my own dear mother through her dating life, I’d be your indentured servant for a month! But here we are, and the streets are making my edges thin.

Gray Harrison 7/29/26 Gray Harrison 7/29/26

Shadow Girls Cult Conjures Self-Exploration with Mixed Media

The Queer shadow puppetry and performance art duo produce enigmatic, dark fantasy worlds through the art of projection. Their latest show, UNRAVELING, ran July 16-18 at Theatre off Jackson. It presented seven vignettes exploring, per the director’s note, “themes of isolation, longing, and fractured identity through a surreal lens.”

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 7/28/26 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 7/28/26

Kitsap Pride Basks in Gloriously Colorful Community

The first pride was a riot, really more of a rebellion. So you can imagine my internal preparation as I braced for another corporatized Pride to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Luckily I had nothing to fear at the Kitsap Pride Festival.

Gray Harrison 7/22/26 Gray Harrison 7/22/26

Spooky Tales Traverse Seattle with ‘KAIDAN: Japanese Ghost Stories’

Japanese ghost stories are coming to Seattle in August. Za Trans-Pacific Productions and director Mimi Katano will present KAIDAN: Japanese Ghost Stories in August at locations around the city. Ghost stories go way back in Japan’s history. Kaidan, or traditional ghost stories of yūrei (ghosts) and yokai (supernatural beings) are steeped in literary and theatrical tradition.

Calista Robbins 7/21/26 Calista Robbins 7/21/26

Seattle Vice Revives Burlesque Series of Tenderloin Histories at Triple Door

“We liked exploring the ‘70s in particular,” said Mark Siano when interviewed, “because this is where the clubs started to spiral out of Frank’s control and started to take on a life of their own. We saw the emergence of Burlesque, Cabaret, Follies, and more Queer-oriented entertainment like what was happening at The New Paris Theatre in Pioneer Square (Seattle’s original gay neighborhood.)”

Zach Youngs 7/14/26 Zach Youngs 7/14/26

Sound Cinema: Edmonds Theater

On this particular summer Tuesday at the Edmonds I saw the latest from Pixar, Toy Story 5. As with all franchises that have made it into their third decade, this one has quite a few diminishing returns. This feels like a rehash of Toy Story 2, mixed with the identity crises of Toy Story, and the dread of being left behind from Toy Story 3.

JeLisa Marshall 7/6/26 JeLisa Marshall 7/6/26

Evergreen Style: Rossario George at Queer NW’s PRIMAVERA

Before the show, I sat down with one of the featured designers, Tony Vicente, to hear his perspective. Eight years after founding the award-winning luxury label Rossario George, Tony was preparing to debut a new haute couture collection, La Maison de Rossario George. His work has earned recognition for designs that blend timeless elegance with bold storytelling while celebrating individuality through artistry. Our conversation explored the role fashion plays in fostering self-expression, visibility, and community during Pride Month, and why those values hold true long after June.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 7/4/26 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 7/4/26

Mike Barnet of Brmrtn Blk Mkt Creates Hub of Black Community

I had the pleasure of attending an event called Brmrtn Blk Mkt (Bremerton Black Market). It took place in Downtown Bremerton’s Quincy Square and per the website was “an open-air market celebration in Quincy Square of Black-led businesses, food vendors, doubledutch performances and live entertainment!” This free market allowed me to engage with and support my cultural community and I left, purchase-laden, feeling invigorated and refilled.

Calista Robbins 7/2/26 Calista Robbins 7/2/26

The Divided Line: Selah [Part 1]

Those enemies, Selah and his colleagues had learned of late, included them too. They’d hauled fifty workers off the grounds a week or so ago, shoved them in the back of black armored vans, and shipped them off to that prison across the sound. It’d been such a grand spectacle. A warning, really, to any others who thought to question the corpocratic reign.

Maxwell Meier 6/30/26 Maxwell Meier 6/30/26

A Queer Reflection on PNW Wedding Planning

Wedding planning during Pride month brings forth newfound realizations, opportunities for self-reflection, and chances to make amends with past traumas, which makes June all the more special.

Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 6/27/26 Raegan Ballard-Gennrich 6/27/26

Perennial Conventions: The AI Grift

As the next generation exits schooling and begins their foray into the career space, the moment of their celebrated end to matriculation is being overshadowed by speakers shoehorning AI inevitability into their faces. The boos, turned backs, and walkouts have made it clear that a solid portion of the debuting generation are already fed up.

Gray Harrison 6/26/26 Gray Harrison 6/26/26

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate Weaves Musical Stories at Seattle Symphony

On June 12, Octave 9 hosted an evening of music at Benaroya Hall from Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate. The chamber pieces were performed by a string quartet composed of Emerson Millar and Jacqueline Audas on violin, Ursula Steele on viola, and Katherine Audas on cello. One of the pieces, entitled “MoonStrike,” also featured live narration from Washington local musician, actor, and storytelling legend Swil Kanim.

Lynette Evans 6/25/26 Lynette Evans 6/25/26

Soft Life, Hard Lessons: Collard Green Kisses and Rom-Com Reality

The magic started on a Friday in Atlanta. My sleep is always a little unpredictable when I’m traveling, and I didn’t roll out of bed until 12:30 p.m. I headed to my favorite local buffet specifically to hit the salad bar. While I was waiting in line, two friends approached me. One of them looked at me, completely unprompted, and said I was beautiful and that I had pretty toes. Look at God!

Parker Dean 6/23/26 Parker Dean 6/23/26

Museum of Illusions Tickles Brains of All Ages

The Museum of Illusions has been open in Seattle for just around two years now, and each visit promises something unique, engaging, and absolutely mind blowing. During my visit to the MOI, I experienced a tilted room, a room with endless mirrors, and got a few silly snapshots that played with perspective.

Parker Dean 6/20/26 Parker Dean 6/20/26

Trans* Talk: Trans* Pride

This year, Pride feels bigger and more important than any other. Like in years past, it feels as though the need for Pride has grown, to remind all of us in the community that we are here, we are alive, we are beautiful. It also feels like an important way to remind our allies to stand with us, and to tell our opposition that we have been here forever and we aren’t backing down anytime soon.

Lynette Evans 6/19/26 Lynette Evans 6/19/26

Juneteenth: The Theft of Rest and the Radical Pursuit of Reclamation

Beyond the physical labor, those two stolen years completely robbed Black people of the vital life milestones that defined actual freedom. They were kept from the immediate, desperate search to find long-lost loved ones who had been sold down river. They were blocked from legally binding their marriages and solidifying the family units that slavery had spent centuries trying to rip apart. They were denied the right to pool resources, buy land, build equity, and found the independent schools that would educate the next generation. Every single day of delayed emancipation was a day stolen from laying the foundations of generational wealth, security, and community building.

Calista Robbins 6/17/26 Calista Robbins 6/17/26

Don’t Sleep on Dacha’s ‘Dream, Carl, Dream’

Part improvisation, part structured pathways, and part chaotic fun, the show challenged audience members to think outside the box and get creative, lest Carl’s subconscious overwhelm him.

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