We The People
More than three months of confusion, frustration and brainwork are coming to an end. This was hard for me, to articulate what I am feeling. Deep sadness clouded my vision, a vision that has become a fast-moving target as the daily deluge of bad news washes over this country. And
Trigger Words
I don’t know what keeps you up at night, but I worry deeply are about the massive changes in our treasured constitutional democracy. It is the many changes of just about everything, but especially the subtle, -or not so subtle-, changes in our American English language. It started years ago
Peaceful Revolution?
When I think of revolution, most images are about rough and hard fighting, demonstrations, people being hurt, killed, murdered and general chaos. There are very few exceptions, although images and headlines of the time just before the fall of The Wall that separated West and East Germany swell up. Being
Gray Matter, Dark Holes
When I learned about our current CiC prompt, my thoughts started racing from one possibility of interpretation to the next. On and on for weeks. Should I go easy and work abstract, maybe look back and pick a point in my life where I changed my mind for better or
Chemo Brain
15 years ago, the world as I knew it changed dramatically with the diagnosis of breast cancer. This rattled me deeply. What followed was a course of racing thoughts of what’s to come: heavy treatments to fight the disease. However, the day the doctor confirmed the diagnosis, it made my
Miss Piggybank Is Hungry
Almost everyone can remember having a piggybank of some sort, collecting loose change, pretty coins, saving up allowance, – and putting effort into occasionally trying to pry something out again. Once it was opened, the delight to sort the money by size or color, and learning the actual value of
Water World
It seems, all ways in the Pacific Northwest led to water, – dripping, flowing, deep, thundering down, sweet or salty, or as wide as the eye can see. I live on the “We(s)t Side” of Washington State, the Salish Sea and Puget Sound with all its Islands are just a
LOOSE CHANGE
Money is a matter every person touches in one way or another. Although, the “another” has become a new normal. The habits of how we pay, tip, give a gift, save up, give a donation or just handle money has changed drastically. Hardly anyone has coins or small bills to
Silk Road
For years, I’ve collected silk fabrics, – scarfs or from garments, hand-dyed or painted, gifted bits and pieces or souvenirs from travels, but the intensely two-colored Dupioni silks grabbed my heart. Every now and then, I take them out, fondle them, make color combinations and arrangements, maybe even use a
Color is about Perception
My fascination with color led me to Bauhaus designer and artist Josef Albers. He experimented extensively with the interactions of color and how the perception of them can change it. Scientists know, people perceive color differently and it changes from one person to the next. Many will remember the controversy
Smoke In The Air
Once upon a time, smoking was my habit. Hardly anyone of the people I have met over the last 24 years knows that I was once a smoker. It’s been a long time since my last cigarette, but I’ve thought many times how it was possible to stop. Not that
Das Gewohnheitstier
We humans are blessed with a unique tool to express ourselves: Language, – not only, but much of our communications are also non-verbal. Being a transplant into an area with a different language, after so many years, my own mother tongue sometimes seems strange. With the benefit of distance, I