Violence, like love, isn’t always felt in the moment. The intensity of those is usually more or less steady, on time-release. Only occasionally does passion jag up and off the charts, a tidal wave flashing solely over our intimate relationships, or engulfing entire communities. Like taking hold of the wrong end of a plugged-in, hot […]Read Post ›
A man barreling his Jeep Patriot from the highway into a poorly designed parking lot entrance, which intersects with a walkway and has a marked pedestrian crossing area amid a confusion of car lanes, honked his ass off loudly in my ears. I’d been about to step into the crossing, which is marked as such […]Read Post ›
Oregon Central Coast’s first-ever* guide to bike parking *let’s just say I’d be surprised if there’s already a bike parking guide out there As arguable proof that I’m not always as wordy as my last post—& to get these photos off my phone—here’s a post featuring usable bike parking at the Oregon coast! This is […]Read Post ›
On climate hustle, climate hope, and taking the climate action heat Dedicated to bicycle advocates worldwide; my dad; and the green Nishiki he gave me rides on before I could pedal I’ve been wanting to say something that’s probably ten disparate posts, but first I’ve got to untangle it all. This is a going to […]Read Post ›
This weekend’s reading included an essay from a 2010 issue of Poetry Magazine, which has been in a “to read” stack of books I’ve hauled around for a decade, but still hadn’t read. Grad school killed off reading for pleasure; the Coronavirus shutdown revived reading for pleasure; go figure. The essay, Why Live Without Writing […]Read Post ›
“We not only believe what we see, to some extent we see what we believe.” —Richard Gregory, former Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at University of Bristol & author of Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing The idea that we see what we believe is a thought-provoking twist on the saying, “when I see […]Read Post ›
Last month I wrote this post, marking my 10-year anniversary of so-called “car freedom.” People who’ve given up cars, or who never had them, often use that word to describe themselves: carfree. Of course, becoming carfree can make one feel more a prisoner of cars than ever, here in a country that practically showers in […]Read Post ›
Yesterday, surveying the empty toilet paper aisle at my local Fred Meyer, I was reminded of this Bible verse I was once taught, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” One […]Read Post ›
Happy Leap Day 2020 to you, and happy 10-year anniversary of being car-free to me! I can’t let this February slip away without celebrating that it marks ten years that I’ve gone without owning a car in America. Yes, I went from a car I’d named Maggie to a bike named Yoko. I don’t even […]Read Post ›
I’m tripping over novels again. I confess: I took one, but didn’t leave one, at Little Free Libraries everywhere, kind of a lot. Add to that the many $5 all-you-can-stuff paper grocery bags full of books with eye-catching covers & persuasive blurbs, hauled home from Friends of the Beaverton Library book & media sales. (Do […]Read Post ›
Naomi Fast 