Summer has finally begun in Seattle!

The last few days around here have been gorgeous! I have been housesitting in West Seattle, and really enjoying the view from the deck which has a great view of the Sound, and is within close proximity of everything I grew up around - the beach, the junction, and my friends! My week of vacation is almost over, and next week I return to work only to leave again in a few weeks to go to Wisconsin! I am really excited, it's going to feel so good to head back there (even if I've only been gone for two months).

Not that what I find interesting is particularly unique, or fabulous - but posting it here helps me keep track of things that I would want someone to show me, or things that I should remember for the future. So, as per usual - here's a few links that are very different in their content, but equally fascinating.

Here is a video starring and written by Emma Koenig in which she explains dating in your twenties. Or maybe that's not what she really explains, but watch anyway - it's good for a nice laugh.

"Leaving Abuse Behind" is a photo essay by Donna Ferreto featured in the New York Times Magazine this week. I think I might have put some of her photographs on this blog already, but it's always good to see something so powerful twice, so I figured that there was no harm in sharing it again. These photographs are compelling, devastating, beautiful, and really speak to the experiences of many women who survive partner abuse during their lifetimes. Somewhere in the last few days, I read that more women die annually from partner abuse than service people who die in Afghanistan or Iraq. Now, I know it's pointless to compare death and violence to different death and violence, but perhaps this figure I read casually somewhere reflects the fact that the issues of partner violence and domestic abuse are not discussed openly in American society. End the silence, stop the violence!

Last on my list of things to talk about today is a quote that I read today in the Gloria Steinem book, "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions." A collection of beautifully written essays by Steinem herself makes you cry, laugh and realize the ways in which male patriarchy (and privilege and inequality) really affect all people. Below is an excerpt from the essay she writes about writer Alice Walker:

It doesn't matter if you love the people society says you shouldn't love, or do or don't have children with more than one of them. It doesn't matter if you have money, go to church, or obey the law. What matters is that you are not cruel or wasteful, that you don't keep the truth from those who need it, suppress someone's will or talent, take more than you need from nature, or fail to use your own talent and will.It's an organic morality of dignity, autonomy, nurturing and balance. What also matters is the acknowledgment that everybody, no matter how mean or passive they may seem on the outside, has redemptive possibilities on the inside.

I hope everyone (the three people that read this) is enjoying the summer heat where ever they may be, and that everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy my new favorite drink - a Cucumber Jalapeno margarita from the Matador in the Junction.

xoxo

berts