Soapbox
The couple that slays together stays together
See that girl over there. The pretty barista with the bee-sting lips and dark braids? She’s about to die and we’re going to kill her. Not immediately, but in the not-too-distant future she’s going to die. A horrible death. Actually, it won’t be too bad … at first. She’ll be lured into a luxury hotel…
How to ruin a tropical vacation in three dark books
My dark reading list in paradise resulted from chance. One book bought, one a gift, one borrowed. All loaded up into the suitcase minutes before rushing out into the cold and dreary Portland world, and then all read with a steady drip of dark rum mixed with POG juice (papaya, orange and guava, for the…
Searching for the atomic bomb and stumbling on the state of science
I went in search of a beginning to the atomic bomb. I went to the site of the Manhattan project to look. There, I found lots of beginnings, along with a stubborn loose end. One beginning is related to organization. During World War II, the military kicked everyone out of White Bluffs, Washington, mobilized 51,000…
Hanford: Reflections on a visit to history’s graveyard
“No one is allowed to take photos. Apparently, the disposal of nuclear waste is just as sensitive as the process of nuclear enrichment.” On August 9, 1945, the U.S. detonated a nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The bomb killed an estimated 75,000 people, injured as many more — not counting the death…
Airport reunions: The waiting trifecta
I spend a lot of time in airports. It’s not that I travel that much, although Kathleen and I have certainly gone to some great places together (yeah, Iceland, I’m talking to you), but I do a lot of drop off and pick up duty. We live in Portland and Kathleen’s side of the family…