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Creating All the Time with Kate Micucci

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“Mike Birbiglia’s new gem of a film, Don’t Think Twice, explores the relationships between members of Commune, a long-standing improv troupe. When the troupe’s theater is sold to Trump and a key member of the group garners a big gig on “Weekend Live”, the friends are forced to reassess their individual values and sense of identity. Kate Micucci of Garfunkel and Oates plays Allison, a peculiar improviser and illustrator. Although in real-life Micucci had no previous experience with improv, you wouldn’t know it from her relaxed, imaginative performance. I talked with Micucci about her creative spirit, knowing your own butt strength, and one particularly hard day.”

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW ON VULTURE

The Great Clear-Cut Caper

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Excited to share my latest for Seattle Met Magazine about the mysterious cutting of 150 trees in West Seattle. Pulled out my finest Harriet the Spy skills for this clear-cut caper. Seattle locals can pick up a June issue in stores now!

A link to the online version of the story now available here.

Aasif Mandvi on ‘Mother’s Day’ and Donald Trump

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Aasif Mandvi. Photo: Amina Elahi

“In a brief interlude from his satirical combat of Islamaphobia on the Daily Show and his web series, Halal in the Family, Aasif Mandvi co-stars in Mother’s Day, a wacky holiday comedy directed by Garry Marshall. Much like Marshall’s Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Day, the movie features multiple intersecting storylines and a star-studded cast. Mandvi plays Russell, an Indian American doctor, husband, and father. His wife Jessie (Kate Hudson) has managed to keep her interracial marriage and toddler a secret from her conservative southern parents. But when Mom and Dad unexpectedly show up for a visit (spoiler!), Jessie can no longer shield her husband from her narrow-minded family. Racist antics and slapstick hilarity ensue.

The full star-studded cast includes Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Timothy Olyphant, Britt Robertson, Sarah Chalke, Hector Elizondo, Margo Martindale, Shay Mitchell, Jack Whitehall, Jon Lovitz, and a pug. If you and/or your mom are hankering for a turbocharged, action-packed cornball rom-com, Mother’s Day is the movie for you. I caught up with Mandvi on interracial romantic comedies, working with toddlers, and Donald Trump’s inner child.”

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW ON VULTURE 

What To Do When You’re Raped: An ABC Handbook for Native Girls

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Graphic Art from What To Do When You’re Raped: An ABC Guide for Native Girls 

“‘What do I tell my daughter when she is raped?’

This was the question posed to Charon Asetoyer, CEO of the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center by a young mother on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in Lake Andes, South Dakota.

“The feeling … I can’t even begin to explain how that made me feel. Not if she’s raped, but when she’s raped,” said Asetoyer of the Comanche tribe. “We’re aware of how bad the problem is in our reservation community, but when somebody puts it to you that way, you realize it’s even worse than you thought it was.”

Asetoyer is well aware that Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault crimes than all other races in the US and that more than one in three Native American women report having been raped during their lifetime. She speaks with survivors of sexual assault in her community every day.

Recognizing an immediate need to prepare and support indigenous young women in the likely event of a sexual assault, Asetoyer and her colleagues teamed up with graphic designer Lucy M Bonner to create a graphic novel entitled, “What To Do When You’re Raped: An ABC Handbook for Native Girls”. The book is available to download free online or to order in print.”

Read the full article for The Guardian here

If this story moves you, Charon Asetoyer and Pamela Kingfisher say there are many ways you can help. Call your local government representatives and tell them this is unacceptable. Buy Plan B in bulk and donate it to your local Native American community. Donate to the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center and women’s shelter here.

Feminist Art Historian Olesya Turkina on Russia’s Fleet of Canine Cosmonauts

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Image Courtesy of FUEL Publishing

“In the aftermath of World War II, the USSR and the USA became locked in an ideological conflict between socialism and capitalism. Determined to demonstrate the superiority of the socialist way, the USSR launched a secret space program. Eventually a human cosmonaut would fly into outer space, but first came Laika—a dog.

Laika’s launch was kept a secret until a few days before take-off. As Russian feminist art historian Olesya Turkina explains in her book, Soviet Space Dogs, “the secrecy of the space program was justified by the notion that socialism could not be seen to fail in any of its endeavors. In this sense, space travel was the most imperative achievement of such a society.” According to the official Soviet story, the valiant little mutt launched into orbit, died a heroic death, and became the first icon of space exploration.”

Thank you to Olesya and Damon for taking the time to answer my questions and for creating such a special book. Check out FUEL Publishing’s “Soviet Space Dogs” by Olesya Turkina, published by Damon Murray and Stephen Sorrell.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

The Faces Behind the Names of Five Seattle Streets

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“Every street in Seattle has its own story. All are fascinating, most weird, some — tragic. Here are the the faces and brief histories behind five notable Seattle streets.”

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Kikisoblu aka “Princess Angeline”. Photo: Seattle Public Library

 

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

This little story only scratches the SURFACE of the fascinating history behind Seattle streets. If this peaks your interest please seek out a more in-depth look through HistoryLink, Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center, and Wedgwood in Seattle.

Milking It: A Brief History of the Dairy Princess

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Wisconsin Historical Society. Image ID 56988

Photo Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society. Image ID56988

“Once upon a time in the magical land of Enumclaw, Washington, there lived a beautiful Dairy Princess named Kimmi Devaney. Princess Kimmi had an encyclopedic knowledge of dairy science and spoke eloquently on the topic in public. Her loyal subjects (fairies, elves, even trolls!) followed her adventures on Kimmi’s Dairyland, a dairy-centric lifestyle blog. All dimples and charm, Princess Kimmi could just as dreamily gush about her collection of sparkly belt buckles and embroidered cowboy boots as she could break down the physics of the milking machine or nonchalantly describe how to artificially inseminate a cow.”

Thank you to Kimmi Devaney, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Alice in Dairyland Program for sharing your stories and photos for this article. Excited to share my latest for Racked!

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

The Odd History of the Amazing Seattle Public Library

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“Rain, coffee, cat ladies, and a robust literary arts community make Seattle one of the best cities in the world to curl up with a book. Seattle’s bookish heritage extends all the way back to the city’s earliest beginnings. Houses were built, a few buildings, a lumber mill, and then — libraries. Stunning, glorious, introvert-friendly libraries.

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Photo: Seattle Historical Photograph Collection/SPL

After two decades of book nerd community rabble-rousing, the first Seattle public library opened in 1891 on the fifth floor of the Occidental Building in Pioneer Square. According to Seattle Public Library lore, a lumber company vice-president checked out the first book, a brand new copy of Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad…” 

I LOVED learning about the Seattle Public Library. Read all about it and see some more great photos by clicking HERE.

Meet the Woolies

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“Woven tightly into the social fabric of the internet resides a cozy community of people who get off on wool. Sexually. In fact, you might say that the wooly world is one of the greatest achievements of the internet. Where else can a person — separated by borders of nation, language, religion, and culture — find others who are sexually aroused by the sight of a mohair sweater? By cable scarf bondage? By the singular sensation of a warm mitten on the genitals? Only online, of course.”

Had a warm and fuzzy good time writing this article for Racked. This material was particularly well received by my mother’s knitting circle. Delight in the full Woolie experience here.

Extravagantza

Created by Extravagantza

Below, please find additional photos of a Woolie playroom generously shared with me by Margot and Rob, a Woolie couple featured in the article. For more context on these images, please read the article.

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Prohibition in Seattle: Party Like it’s 1916

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“On January 1, 1916, Prohibition began in Washington State, making the production, distribution and possession liquor illegal. This was three years before liquor was prohibited by the federal government and it would be seventeen years before prohibition ended in 1933. But the party didn’t stop in Seattle. Who would have guessed that polite, tech nerd Seattle was once home to approximately 4,000 raucous illegal speakeasies?”

Thanks to Roy Olmstead, cop turned bootlegger, Seattle was one wild place in the early 1900s…

Get the scoop here!

King of the Puget Sound Bootleggers 4Roy and Elise Olmstead with Roy’s mother Sarah at courthouse, Seattle, 1926. Photo: MOHAI