Andrea Gibson being alive felt like something from a higher plane had dropped into this grimy world and kept glowing anyway. A living proof-of-concept for what we could be if we were braver, kinder, and less afraid.

Two years ago, some creep showed up at the Wing Luke Museum screaming about Asians as he smashed windows with a sledgehammer. Now you can vote the Wing into the Top 10, which feels like the loudest possible reply.

Calm down, everyone, January 6th was just a bunch of peaceful grandmothers taking photos and exploring the building.

Applying for my visa to China. Two hours of forms so I can spend weeks eating dumplings on a train going 217 mph.

Our daughter is a tattoo artist and for Christmas she tattooed the family. Some families do pajamas. We do permanent life choices.

Leesha lost her mom at 23. I lost both my parents by 32. A few years ago, we set up a small family shrine. It helps, especially on holidays. It gives grief somewhere soft to land. If you’ve lost someone, I can’t recommend it enough.

Tonight we’re doing our traditional Christmas Eve nacho bar, as described in the Bible.

The Epstein files aren't the downfall of Trump. They're the autopsy of our legal system. Cause of death: rich men protecting themselves at the expense of victimized children and teens.

The outline of my memoir.

Next year I'm leading my third writing retreat in France. Wanna join us? The past two years have sold out. I’d like to take credit, but honestly, have you met French wine?

Next year I'm leading my third writing retreat in France. Wanna join us? The past two years have sold out. I’d like to take credit, but honestly, have you met French wine?

Have a weird holiday job memory? When I was 19, I worked as a portrait artist at Nordstrom in Seattle—posted up in the cosmetics department, sketching quick (and awful) portraits that came free with certain facial products.

Sometimes I think about Cary Grant, the man who looked like a Republican senator—dropping acid more than a hundred times in the '50s. While most of America was hosting Tupperware parties, dude was spelunking his psyche like it was a national park.

It's such an honor to on this list. My imposter syndrome is forever doing cartwheels.

My friend Lainie was Mrs. Claus in this year's Macy's Parade, delighting some parents, enraging others. Meanwhile her ethnicity went absolutely unnoticed by the only people who matter: children. Kids don't care. Just let Santa and Mrs. Claus live their best lives at the North Pole.

My book club picked A Very Russian Christmas this month. It’s like The Grinch, except the Grinch never learns anything and everyone stays sad.

When Typhoon Halong struck during the govt shutdown, this corner of Alaska got no aid and barely a headline. Families are still trying to rebuild. Author Don Rearden, raised in the Kuskokwim, and Beth Hill, are leading a relief effort. Your support can finally reach the people who were forgotten.

If the Epstein files are a hoax, why was Prince Andrew stripped of his titles, why is Trump fighting so desperately to keep them hidden, and why does everyone on that flight log suddenly have amnesia?

Hello darkness, my old friend. You’re putting on a show again.

Why stop at a 50-year mortgage? Let's go full dystopia and make it a 150 years, with your debt lovingly passed down like an heirloom of financial despair. Generation after generation, working not for wealth, but for the privilege of almost owning drywall. Why own a house, when you can haunt it?

Anyone who thinks the Founding Fathers were somehow proto-evangelicals has clearly never seen the Jefferson Bible—where Jefferson literally cut out every miracle, every hint of the supernatural, and even the resurrection. Age of Enlightenment? Yes. "Praise hands" Christianity, not so much.

If the ending of House of Dynamite left you frustrated and unsatisfied, try its intellectual sequel—Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. It'll make you ache for the gentle apocalypse that Dynamite gave you.

All stocked up for tomorrow. Candy and comics. Promoting literacy and tooth decay, one trick-or-treater at a time.

"What are going as for Halloween?" "Oh, it's actually something quite literary..."

If someone's complaining about people on SNAP, ask if they know how much a can of formula costs. Or diapers. Or a month of daycare. More than half of SNAP recipients are single parents—mostly moms. And about 90% of the people complaining about them are men who should fucking know better.

This is an incredible, in-depth piece about Toby's House. Hard to believe it's been eight years since Leesha was out there pitching this idea, trying to explain what a crisis nursery is and why it matters.

Come travel with me to China next year! I don’t even snore, though I do occasionally mumble, "Did you pack the charger?" in my sleep.

Years ago I gave a presentation at the Smithsonian, and Chris Lu was there, who at the time was Dep. Secretary of Labor under Obama. He gave me his card and invited me to come tour the East Wing of the White House. I could never get away and now deeply regret not going, especially seeing this.

Mariners beating the Blue Jays right now, which is great news for anyone who enjoys cautious optimism and emotional whiplash. Let's gooooo!

They'll furlough a million workers to keep from releasing the Epstein files.

Auntie Ruby may be remembered for the Wing Luke Museum. I'll remember Ruby for her Marge Simpson hairdo, her zeal for dancing, making her own outfits & strong support for the LGBTQ community. She also worked at Boeing for 35 years @jamieford.bsky.social iexaminer.org/ruby-luke-pa...

Caught a chest cold and accidentally unplugged from social media. Ten out of ten. Would get ill again.

Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Taipei—basically the world's greatest pub crawl, except the drinks are dumplings, the shots are bubble tea, and the hangover is a suitcase full of memories. And next April, you can come with me and John Shors. We'll even save you a seat on the bullet train.

Bracing myself for next year's high school reunion, where I'll inevitably discover that some of my peers who slam-danced to the Cramps and Dead Kennedys now pledge allegiance to MAGA. From anarchy to HOA enforcers in one generation.

After that guy threw a sandwich at a federal agent, I'm reminded that Paddington Bear kept a marmalade sandwich under his hat for emergencies. Which, honestly, feels like the right level of preparedness for 2025.

Seattle's Panama Hotel, in the news once again—still holding the scent of tea, the echo of quiet rooms, and the weight of what was left behind.

As the great philosophers, Wreckx-N-Effect once said, All I wanna do is zoom-a-zoom-zoom-zoom...

DC gets militarized. Soldiers spend a week perfecting their "standing around" formation. They're pulled before they start griping to the press. Trump declares victory. Meanwhile the 23 women who stood in open court to tell their stories about Epstein and Trump are ignored.

On Jan. 6, Trump let his followers beat cops like piñatas. Now he's sending soldiers to fight the Epstein files. Because nothing says "law and order" like protecting rich men whose dates had to be home by curfew.

Tomorrow I'm taping an interview for About the Authors on Tubi. I'm planning to begin every answer with, "As the prophecy foretold…" and see how far I get.

Had dinner last night with the founder of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. We talked about the idea of a "follower" gene, which might explain MAGAs willingness to be led by a very bad man.

Every time someone tells me to muzzle my opinions and "just write books," all I hear is: "Please entertain me, but don’t inconvenience me with your humanity."

When Trump watches the new South Park he's going to start a war just so he can bring back the draft and send Matt and Trey to the front lines.

So...Trump is in the Epstein docs—the ones he claimed didn't exist, then insisted Obama created, and the GOP conveniently ground Congress to a halt so no one can even vote on releasing. It's like a Scooby-Doo episode, if Scooby was into underage girls and Fred was trying to overturn democracy.

I grew up during the Satanic Panic, when churches were holding bonfires to burn Ozzy records. Now he's gone. Turns out the Prince of Darkness was just a misunderstood poet with a Brummie accent.

It's wild and beautiful watching Andrea Gibson live on in our cultural bloodstream—like a vaccine against hard-heartedness, cruelty, and despair.

A few spots left on next year's China tour! We'll roam ancient cities, decode forbidden love letters in calligraphy, and I'll walk you through a temple while arguing—politely—that Daoism is just quantum physics with better landscaping. 1/2

The way Andrea Gibson handled dying has forever altered the way I handle living. An amazing, beautiful human being that we did not deserve, but needed so badly. Please watch this performance. I’m gonna go continue crying now.

Sitting in for Johnathan Evison on A FRESH FACE IN HELL. Jen is the author of NERVOUS, check out the podcast, and her amazing book.

In case there's any confusion as to what the real agenda is.