Blogs Stories

In Search of Truth and Beauty || Quantum Entanglement and Spooky Action at a Distance

by Joni Takanikos in Blogs
Posted on: July 19, 2017 6:00 pm - Permalink

A wise friend once told me that our children are a piece of their parents’ hearts, walking around completely exposed. I agree with this sentiment, and that is why, when Jasmine flew off to Greece, part of me accompanied her every step of the way.

She is there now and, thanks to modern technology, we have clear conversations, both voice and visual, and send lots of pictures and videos, too. Quantum entanglement, or as Einstein called it, spooky action at a distance.

I am in Greece with Jasmine and also here in Brooklyn with Max and his fiancée Natasha, being wined and dined and walking the enchanting neighborhoods.

5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Magically Real || What To Do When You’re Feeling Extraneous

by Stephanie Barbé Hammer in Blogs, Theater and Dance
Posted on: July 12, 2017 6:00 pm - Permalink

Friends, I don’t know about you, but I feel extraneous these days. The political situation (which, is distressing, if not downright depressing, no matter where you stand politically), combined with the long ferry lines to and from the island, and the losses of the Whidbey MFA program, the Coupeville radio station, and the Coupeville pharmacy (I’m not sure that’s related, but I’m throwing it in anyway because I really miss it), along with the financial threats to the local hospital make things feel difficult here. I can’t, for the life of me, get a community college to hire me as an adjunct lecturer, although I’ve won two teaching awards and have three graduate degrees.

Yup, it’s time to face facts: I’m extraneous.

So, what am I doing? I’m reading a bunch of books — novels and poetry — I’m writing (working on three or four different projects), and I’m going to volunteer at the Island Shakespeare Festival in Langley.

One Comment Tags: , , , , ,

Minding the Sky || Coming to Fruition

by Judith Walcutt in Blogs, Food
Posted on: July 5, 2017 6:00 pm - Permalink

Summer is upon us. Fruit is ripening everywhere —cherries on the tree, strawberries in the field, raspberries in the patch, and blueberries on the bush—they are all coming to fruition. It is time to get out and get some of the bounty we have so readily available, right here, right now, where we live.

Maggie’s U-Pick at Featherstone Farm, which is located on Bailey Road in Clinton, has a changing assortment of offerings throughout the summer, all U-pick (contact Maggie at maggiej@whidbey.com to be added to her mailing list). Bell’s Farm in Coupeville has been providing Whidbey with strawberries since 1946. They have a lot of other produce as well. The U-pick price for the berries is a great deal at $1.60 per pound. We have at least two on-island, certified organic blueberry farms. Mutiny Bay Blues in Freeland offers a variety of blueberry types, all of them full of flavor, a profound flavor, which is practically the Platonic ideal of blueberryness. Hunter’s Moon Farm, north of Oak Harbor, also organic, provides a U-pick option and has some raw honey available from the bees that pollinate their fields.

One Comment Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sue the Screenwriter: It Takes a Village to Launch a Book

by Suzanne Kelman in Blogs, Humor, Literary
Posted on: June 28, 2017 6:00 pm - Permalink

Yes, I do love living in a small town. I love everything about a community that works together to support local artists. I also believe in keeping local money in our own communities whenever we can. So, it was an easy decision when I came to launching my next book, “Rejected Writers Take the Stage,” to have a party downtown, especially as my book is set in Langley!

It’s always exciting for authors to get their hands on the first copy of their work. I don’t know about other writers, but it always makes me cry. It is as if all those electronic manuscripts, internet emails, and flat graphic covers are a fantasy until you actually hold that work in your hand as a physical book.

No Comments Tags: , , , ,