Blog

ByGD

In Defense of Smell

Chanel-No-5-perfumeOn the bus this morning, I was reading Natasha Narayan’s book, The Maharajah’s Monkey. I enjoy the Kit Salter series about the Indiana Jones-like adventures of a bold Victorian-era tween even more than my daughter does. My mind was absorbed in the hunt for a missing French explorer when a new passenger boarded the bus in a miasma of herbal odor. Since the passage of I-502, such fragrance on the streets of Seattle is not unusual. But the smell of this particular gentleman’s variety was of an extreme skunk such as I hadn’t experienced since my own days in the subcontinent.

Everything smells more in India. Read More

ByGD

Discovering the Secret of Life at Bumbershoot

Dave B.

Dave B.

I didn’t plan to drag two children under the age of 10 to all three days of Bumbershoot. But that is exactly what I did.

 

My festival preview lives here, and my survival guide is here. My compatriots over at Three Imaginary Girls and the KEXP blog (not my compatriots- just good coverage) have, I think, covered most of the shows. So I am free to talk about the secret of life.  Read More

ByGD

Doe Bay Moments

doebay fest logoDoe Bay Fest is only six years old, but with its stellar record for booking the best of the Northwest, it is already legendary. Festival-goers recognize each other on the street and nod – “Doe Bay?” “Doe Bay” – like members of a secret society sharing a password. This was my first year at Doe Bay, and because of the type of writing I do for a living, I wanted to tell you how to score tickets to Doe Bay Fest, which always seems to sell out before tickets go on sale. I planned to describe the camping areas and give advice about meal planning and festival food.

But now that I’ve been there, I’m not going to write any of that. Read More

ByGD

Laxness is Dependably Frustrating in Independent People

independent-people-halldor-laxness-paperback-cover-art

After hating The Great Weaver of Kashmir without being able to dismiss its quality, I read Independent People and didn’t know what to think. My relationship with Laxness will always be volatile; he inspires fervor and frustration in equal measure.

This is the real thing: a head-over-heels incredulity that there exists in the universe so perfect an imperfection.

(from the intro by Brad Leithauser)

Independent People is often cited as his masterpiece, and it proves that Laxness’ Nobel Prize is well-earned. It holds up in comparison to The Grapes of Wrath; in both stories, dirt-poor farmers epitomizing the national spirit fight for survival and dignity against economic forces they don’t understand. In the case of Independent People, the farmer is Bjartur, who sacrifices everything of value in his life to pursue his ideal of independence. Read More

ByGD

A Hard Dog’s Night

border collieSo I have this memory of John Denver sitting on a cabin porch in a Rocky Mountain sunrise, eating GrapeNuts cereal. I’ve spent unsuccessful hours online trying to prove John Denver did a GrapeNuts commercial, but the memory is there if the evidence isn’t. The reason this commercial stayed with me while it was forgotten by the rest of the world is that the image of wholesome predawn hopefulness is so foreign to me. Even as a child, I was a night owl. I always wanted to stay up with the grownups and got my best ideas for games and projects when it was time for bed. Read More