

The third largest country?
What country is synonymous with development, rampant with highways, tall buildings, bridges and dams—and is the third largest emitter of CO2
Jul 23, 2019


Making peace with art
My family had a picnic on a recent weekend, celebrating my dad’s 91st birthday. We passed around some photos of his time in Japan after WWII ended. I listened as several around the table described their time in the military (and now, as I’m editing this, I remember it was Memorial Day weekend). My father called himself lucky to come of age between World War II and the Korean War. One family member was going to be drafted during the Vietnam war, so immediately after college he
Jun 14, 2019


To name a few
I'm one of those people who always reads the labels in art museums. And some art has become memorable , first for the experience of...
May 9, 2019


Not your mama’s Dada
Question: is all art inherently political? Here’s one way to think about contemporary art: it’s an expression of how artists interact...
Apr 14, 2019


Living under a cloud
Having learned a few years ago that my father worked on and witnessed atomic bomb tests on Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the mid-1950’s,...
Mar 19, 2019


The attraction of science
It’s been said before (and more explicitly), but I f-ing love science! A scientist can envision many peculiar worlds; not only the one we...
Mar 1, 2019


Wild and precious
Remember when your definition of “old” kept changing as you grew from a child, through adolescence, through your 20’s, 40’s and so on? I...
Feb 26, 2019


Peace de résistance
Symbols are powerful because they’re a shortcut to the brain, to the soul. Few are as powerfully evocative in the modern western world than
Feb 5, 2019


Black Rain Falling
Black Rain has become a metaphor in Japan for the atomic bomb and its aftermath. Hibakusha testimony is a blunt reminder on this horrific 73
Aug 6, 2018


Lost highway
Awareness is creeping in that the Alaskan Way viaduct will be leveled sometime this year, another surge in the great Seattle overhaul;...
Mar 26, 2018