Bumbershoot: A Brief History

Bumbershoot is the ultimate end of summer arts festival and has featured local and national acts such as Mudhoney and Bob Dylan. Along with music there are art shows and galleries, as well as, author readings, dance performances, street performers, and a variety of acts to tickle the mind.

In it’s 46th year it will feature music artists, such as, Death Cab for Cutie, Halsey, Father John Misty, Billy Idol, and our local talent, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis!

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine…

I most often read non-fiction; stories about societies or individuals in times of strife, war, anarchy, disease, and pestilence. I am often humbled by the civility and dignity that these individuals and groups maintain when the proverbial ca-ca has hit the fan.  As for fiction, there seem to be many dystopian pieces of work out there that often depict chaos, death, and destruction. And it seems to me that often these are admired or worshipped by a mentality that wishes this was the reality. Comparatives of that norm would be to look at Darfur or Rwanda and ask why one would be happy in that dystopia. Is there something to prove in sinking to the lowest common denominator? Here are a couple of titles that go against that norm.

Of Parrots and People

Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species by Mira Tweti

This title is an informative and moving account of the negative impact we have on the parrot population and on the planet as a whole. Tweti argues that we have not only destroyed their natural habitats, but have also turned these intelligent animals into our slaves. I have three pet parrots and have often questioned my decision to keep them in captivity. Though my birds are domestic and not wild-caught, they are still essentially wild animals. Though they are well cared-for, I often wonder if they dream of a life free of restraints. This book has opened my eyes to how we can be better stewards of this planet and the creatures that live upon it. Tweti’s view of our relationship with animals can be narrowed down to a single  statement: “The stark truth is, if we disappeared tomorrow (and took all of our toxin-producing technology with us), the world would be better off by far. On the other hand, if all the other living species disappeared tomorrow, we would perish almost immediately” (p. 293).