Healthcare for All Americans

John Kerry would like to have that happen by 2012.

The plan is well constructed, and is the same one that he used during his presidential bid in 2004.

I hope this survives the attacks from the far-right ideologues, and becomes an actual plan that makes Americans live longer and healthier. The current healthcare system is a joke.

More importantly, I need to see a determination from Senator Kerry and his colleagues to see that this plan becomes reality. Too many politicians of both parties have backed down before.

TruthOut

Religious Freedom in the Military

In my recent weeks working with the military, I sometimes noticed a Crusade-like atmosphere in the air - that this fight is not for the United States of America, it's more like for Christianity to defeat the evil forces of Islam.

The US is a nation with a secular Constitution and government, the last time I checked. And this morning, my local Air America affiliate radio station, in a locally produced talk show, mentioned the following website, which is fighting the Air Force's attempts to forcibly convert non-Christian airmen to Christianity.

Military Religious Freedom

Ally McRepuke

Two articles that recently popped up regarding Calista Flockhart's new role as a Republican pundit, in the ABC series Brothers and Sisters:

Daily Kos
Editor and Publisher

At least Kitty Walker, Calista's role, looks more like an Eisenhower Republican, and less like that other skinny miniskirted "lawyer" - Mann Coulter.

Coulter's sexual fantasies on Bill Clinton?!?

Just had this article forwarded from DiAnne in Seattle:

Huffington Post

Mann Coulter now accuses Bill Clinton of latent homosexuality, given his sex drive and all. I've heard of gay rumors for Hillary Clinton, but not for Bill, until now.

I can only wonder if Coulter has a twisted fantasy on Bill, one that s/he can't act out due to the politics (and outing him/herself). Coulter need not worry though, because even if Bill Clinton were indeed gay, he wouldn't be interested a bit in Coulter's male anatomy - or what remains of it.

It's a MAN, baby!

The more I look into Mann Coulter, the more convinced I am that indeed, we're talking about a tranny.

It's one thing when Stephanie Miller jokes about Coulter's gender. But it's a whole different matter when Randi Rhodes openly declares Coulter a man, straightforward, with no irony intended. This afternoon, I heard Rhodes do this at least twice.

Moreover, Coulter's latest book describes just how godless liberals are, as if Coulter herself is a devout Christian. The problem is that while Coulter declares herself a member of New York's Redeemer Presbyterian Church, the church itself flat-out states that Coulter is NOT a member. I used to know many Redeemer members back in my NYC days, and if someone as high-profile as Coulter attended that place, I would've known. Only two conclusions can be drawn: that either Coulter is pretending to be a practicing Christian when she's not, or that Coulter cannot attend the church because, well, she's pretending to be a woman when she's not.

And the more I discuss Coulter with my political contacts, the more feedback I get regarding the oddities of Coulter's anatomy and presentation - from the infamous Adam's Apple to oversized hands and feet. I was able to catch Coulter a few nights ago on CNBC, and while her voice did sound feminine, many trannies can pull it off with vocal training (and I can personally attest to that).

So I am more convinced than ever. It's a MAN, baby! And while some say that it doesn't matter anyway because Coulter is disgusting and hateful no matter what, I do have to disagree, since any LGBT shilling for the Far Right homophobes, by definition, is a sellout and a scumbag. And the sad thing is that Coulter is not just an isolated case, but the tip of the iceberg, an epidemic of rampant arch-conservatism in the circles of transgender "women."

Gay marriage ban upheld in Washington State

This was a major issue being talked about during my Seattle visit earlier this month.

Those moralistic motherfuckers east of the Cascades - and imported hatemongers in Bellevue - have been handed a victory in this close 5-4 decision by the state Supreme Court.

The decision only says, however, that the state's "defense of marriage" act is constitutional. It doesn't say anything about gay marriage itself, and one justice was quoted as saying that the inequities faced by gay families needs to be addressed somehow. A future legislative action or voter initiative will be able to legalize gay marriage or California-style domestic partnership.

BBC

America's 100 years of overthrow

Pretty disturbing read.

Stephen Kinzer has just written a book, Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq, that details American interventionism of the past century or so, which resulted in at least fourteen foreign governments being overthrown, many of them against the wishes of the people involved.

So much for spreading democracy. And this isn't just a Republican addiction; Democrats are just as guilty. Both parties have leaders being driven by corporate donors who want to install a more pro-corporate rightist regime in a Third World country, and they can only oblige.

Read the synopsis below.

AlterNet

Ban on books on Cuba

The Miami-Dade School District had banned a series of 24 books for children, dealing with the lifestyles of different countries of the world, because one of the volumes, one on Cuba, described the life under the Fidel Castro regime too positively - at least in the opinion of a parent.

It's now reported that the ban was ridiculous enough in the eyes of a district judge to be overturned for now.

Just because someone didn't like the bit about Cuba, the children of Miami were deprived of a chance to learn the cultures of 24 different countries. This goes against the ideals of teaching children as much information as possible, so that they can make the best decisions for themselves. Let's not let a vocal bunch of expats, whether from Cuba, Vietnam, Korea, or elsewhere, dictate what Americans with no special ties to those countries can and cannot read and see.

BBC

The Asian drive for conformity and self-sacrifice

I've known of it all my life, but I've just seen an extreme example from the Angry Asian Man blog.

This is real. And this isn't even coming from someone in China; it's coming from someone who moved to the United States five years ago.

Just read this essay, written when Ying Ying Yu was 13. In the midst of the country (China), the family, and the heavy social expectations, she chose to cease to exist as a distinct human being.

The Asian demands of self-sacrifice can be lethal, I know that for myself. For someone like me to exist - as a woman, as a lesbian, as a "tranny dyke," and as an aspiring writer - I had to stand up for myself, and fight and resist the pressure to conform to someone else's expectations of me. And only the more individualistic Western culture made it possible for me.

As I recall my high school years, I remember quite a few classmates living under the same kind of philosophy as the one shown in the essay. They turned out to be complete nerds and outcasts, and knowing nothing but academics, turned out to be less suited for the doctor/lawyer/whatever prestigious occupation they were expected to obtain, than the all-American well-rounded kids.

The essay was featured on NPR's Morning Edition on July 17th.

Read the Essay on NPR

Faith

Not as faith in a narrowly defined set of religious beliefs, but faith in a system of government the people have set up.

Please read the following blog entry, which was written in response to the US demands that Americans in Lebanon reimburse the government for the evacuation costs. I am outraged; the government, through tax cuts for the richest of the rich, has really shrunken to the point of being useless for the average American, pretty much in line with Grover Norquist's wishes.

The US government has betrayed the faith of the vast majority of the American people. Honestly, from now on, I don't even know if my US passport is worth anything.

My Left Wing

As I hit the sack tonight...

I've repeatedly mentioned how stressful it is to be working in the desert, with the reactionary politics of the Marine Corps thrown in.

At least, this week, I made sure to bring my loungewear - something I couldn't even do until now. It feels so much better wearing the camisoles and leggings that I had bought in Seattle; I had bought them precisely for this purpose (though they can/will also be worn on the streets, with a suitable tunic).

I'm not exactly "femming" out, but at least I don't look so hideous in the mirror anymore, and that alone is a priceless feeling. I'll try to carry that feeling straight into bed - and my dreams.

Commander-in-Chief

My work on a Marines installation takes me to various memorials to the troops who gave their lives for the country. This includes a conference room, which memorializes two Marines from the American heartland who gave their lives during the Korean War.

These men grew up during very difficult times; the Great Depression was during their childhood, and as they entered their teens, World War II demanded further sacrifices. And when yet another conflict - this time, in a faraway land they probably had never heard of - occurred, they bravely volunteered to serve. When their battle groups were under heavy enemy attack, they blocked an enemy grenade, or otherwise gave their lives, to protect the rest of the group, and to contribute to winning the battle.

The Korean War was a textbook example on why the civilian President, as Commander-in-Chief, has to be the voice of reason. First, Harry Truman understood the gravity of the situation enough to have a doctrine of containing the communist influence, well before war broke out in Korea. Then, he used diplomacy to get the United Nations to send a multinational force to quell the conflict - sixteen nations, including the United States, fought alongside the South Korean forces. When General Douglas MacArthur wanted to fight an all-out war, not only against North Korea but also against China, USSR, and all other communist nations, Truman sacked him, wisely deciding that wearing the communist camp out through containment was a much safer option than nuclear annihilation of the entire world. (However, South Korean conservatives, including then-President Syngman Rhee, have never forgiven Truman - and the Democrats - for this decision.)

Fast forward to today, with W as Commander-in-Chief. I am always reminded of that as I see W's photo everywhere, captioned the "Honorable" George W. Bush. Unfortunately, there is nothing honorable about W and his war conduct. Rather than giving the voice of reason to the military, he has been even more of a madman than the military commanders, diverting American war efforts from the real enemy, the Taliban in Afghanistan, to a personal/oil industry pet project, Iraq. He pretends to be the ultimate authority in military affairs, even though his Vietnam-era military service details are sketchy at best. And the worst of it is, he is using tools like Fox News to brainwash the soldiers, so that they think they are fighting a noble war in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and elsewhere, when in fact they aren't. And the level of brainwashing is absolutely scary; combined with the false perception that Republicans are more pro-military and the doctrines of the Christian fundamentalists, the soldiers are worshipping W like the newest Christian prophet that he pretends to be, ready to go on more and more Crusades.

Back to the two Marines who gave their lives in Korea, I look at them and see two wasted lives. The US involvement in South Korea, lasting through today, has not always been a positive influence. South Korean democratic institutions, and its very sovereignty, have been hampered by excessive US meddling, especially during the Republican administrations (the worst were in the Richard Nixon - Park Chung Hee era and the Ronald Reagan - Chun Doo Hwan era). The relationship between the two nations have benefited only the right wing of the two, not everyone; Korea has always been a pet project of American conservatives like Sam Brownback and the Concerned Women for America, and it's been the right-wingers in South Korea who want continued high levels of US military presence, against the wishes of the people of South Korea - and both the left and the right of the United States. (This includes moving the US Army command in Seoul to a location an hour to the south, a project I may be involved in in the future.) The students, the labor, and other activists, including everyday civilians, have suffered immensely on both sides as a result of this relationship, particularly in 1980 and in 1983, and this must change. Unfortunately, the current free trade talks between the two countries, the biggest such agreement for the US since NAFTA, will only further strengthen the hands of the right wingers, and put the students, labor, and other activists further into the hole.

More Ford woes

I still have yet to hear a word on what will happen to my Contour. Although I've provided the title, the car has not been signed over yet, and I have no idea whether it will be the repair shop, or a junkyard, or someone else, who will take my car.

In the meantime, the company Econoline that I've been driving as its replacement, has had its first oil change. I took the opportunity to closely inspect the innards of the vehicle. I was appalled to learn that Ford had used a generic no-name oil filter on the assembly line! It looked nothing like the Motorcraft filter that was supposed to be the OEM part (and was used as the replacement today). Ford must be getting pretty desperate, snubbing its own OEM parts for no-name generic parts in an attempt to save a dollar or two per vehicle.

The design and the build quality of the vehicle is letting me down. Until recently, I used to think Ford was the best of a sorry bunch of American car companies; at least, it had tried to compete with the imports with cars like the Contour and the Focus, and its build quality was at least above General Motors standards. Now, I am not so sure. There is also a new Chevy van in the company fleet, and it's much better put together. And it used to be GM that was building crappy, generic badge-engineered vehicles in the 1990s.

In any case, if this is all that the American car companies can muster, the industry is in severe trouble. And the worst of it all? High-pay, high-benefits American auto assembly jobs replaced by low-pay, no-benefits Japanese sweatshop jobs in the Deep South. If the Japanese can use southern sweatshop labor and STILL build better cars than the Americans, then there definitely is room for improvement for GM and Ford - but it must be found, FAST.

More madness in the world

Last week, it seemed that everyone was obsessed with the North Korean missile launches. I've pretty much decided that dealing with the erratic North Koreans requires extraordinary diplomatic finesse, and that W, by playing along with the Korean-American hardliners' wishes and pissing North Korea off, blew it. If North Korea decides to go to war, either against South Korea or the United States, I will hold the right-wing Korean-American community at least partly responsible.

Now, it's been eclipsed by what appears to be a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon. Israel's hardline politics of recent years is unacceptable, especially in light of its human rights abuses in Palestine. The blatant pro-Israel position taken by the neocons and the Christian community is unjustifiable, as the Israeli response in this war has gone beyond what's acceptable. Of course, I do not see the Muslim side in a good light either, as the likes of Hezbollah, Hamas, al-Qaeda, and even legitimate national governments are continually supporting acts of terrorism and barbarism throughout the world. I've heard more than a few remarks that this may mark the beginning of World War III.

Of course, the neocons may have triggered Israel into fighting this war, in order to drum up support for their own planned war against Iran. Hezbollah is funded by Iran, after all. And the more wars, the better for the neocon contractors, as the high oil prices and sweetheart contracts will mean more profits for the likes of Exxon-Mobil and Halliburton.

With the end of the Cold War, the world was a much more hopeful place as this millennium had dawned. But with madmen like W in power in key locations around the world, this looks far more dangerous than Cold War ever was. After all, these conflicts are fueled by religion, which is far more explosive than the ideology clash which fueled the Cold War.

BBC

Odds and Ends

First, I've just read an article on Match.com that shows the benefits of singlehood. In today's environment, where marriage is being trumped up by the right-wing media, and where even gays are so obsessed with commitment ceremonies that they fight a narrow marriage battle instead of a wider unmarried rights battle, articles like this tell the truth, and show hope. I've known many of these benefits all along, and I am in no mood to give them up anytime soon.

Match.com

Second, there have been an addition and a deletion in my links section:

Camp Democracy is the new addition, and it expands last year's Camp Casey into a long-term camp on the Mall in Washington D.C. I wish I could go and participate. I will try to offer the best moral support that I can, in order to hold the W regime and its culture of death accountable.

Meanwhile, Fallen Goddess has been deleted. It's a wonderful community of lesbians - except for a few bad apples. A few bad apples shouldn't be forcing me out of the community. However, given that one particular individual has been carrying out a vendetta against me, simply because I am not afraid to speak my mind on ethnic homophobia, which clashes with her politically correct view of whites being the primary/only source of homophobia (it certainly is NOT the case where I am), it's not been a pleasant experience. When I spoke out about my experience of being denied healthcare, she accused me of launching a misinformation campaign. It appears that she even reported me to a moderator for an "anti-Christian" blanket post, when in fact more severe anti-Christian statements have been made by other members without much of a fuss. I've pretty much had it, and will be discussing the issues with the moderators and the webmaster; if I feel that the issues are not being handled in a fair manner, I will have no choice but to seek greener pastures. I have no business being at a place where politically correct white liberals tell me what to think, and write off my own experiences as invalid; I've had enough of that with the conservative community already.

API and LGBT?

Too much alphabet soup out there. I meant, Asian-Pacific Islander and part of the lesbian/gay/bi/trans community?

Then take the following National Gay & Lesbian Task Force survey. To me, this is extremely important - letting the activists know how someone like me is dismissed both by the homophobic Asian-American communities, and by the politically correct white LGBTs who refuse to admit the existence of such homophobia.

NGLTF survey
More information

Extra Seattle pictures

Trouble with my laptop's network adapter means that I won't be able to blog as much, until it is repaired. So if you are looking for some commentary on the current North Korean missile crisis, I won't be able to provide it for now (other than that it will suck, war or no war.)

In the meantime, my Seattle contact DiAnne Grieser has provided me some extra photos from my Seattle trip.

Another picture of me, from the Vietnamese restaurant on July 1.

DiAnne and me, bar-hopping on July 3. Again, this is the Crescent karaoke bar.

Seattle recap, Days 4 and 5

This is how my trip ended.

Mt. Rainier looked very majestic from Seattle, but closer up, it felt more like other peaks I had seen back in California. Even here, it was warm, though I could see plenty of snow still on the ground.

Here is a waterfall within Mt. Rainier National Park, near the Paradise Visitor Center.

I spent the evening again with the Perretz-Rosales family, to take part in the Fourth of July dinner party. Here is the family cat.

The family's tradition every Fourth of July: a watermelon-eating contest. Contestants must eat all pink parts of a slice of watermelon. In case of any doubts, Bob's decision is final.

I couldn't hit Mt. St. Helens due to its distance from Seattle. I had to suffice with this view from my flight, as I returned home today. With the north slopes completely demolished from the 1980 eruption, it was very easy to recognize.

I took a nap, then woke up to this view of the California Delta in the center, with Stockton in the foreground. To the left of the delta is Mt. Diablo, and beyond it is the fog shrouding the San Francisco Bay Area. Seeing my novel character Sarah's hometown (albeit hidden in fog), from one of her planes, was quite an experience.

Another 45 minutes later, I was flying the traffic patterns over Santa Monica, before landing in Los Angeles. And that was the end.

Seattle recap, Day 3

The tour continued.

This is the original Starbucks store, opened in 1971, located across the street from Pike Place Market.


Seattle's traditional market, Pike Place Market. Developers tried to raze it several times, but concerned citizens won out each time.

I moved on to the Pacific Science Center, where I spent the better part of the day. This is the butterfly house, where some butterflies are feeding. It was quite a sight, even though I had seen another butterfly house back in February in Palm Desert, at the Living Desert.

Pacific Science Center's current featured exhibit is Game On!, which showcases the development of video games, from Pong to the current crop of virtual reality games, and from Atari and Commodore consoles to Xbox and Playstation. Almost all the vintage games and consoles were playable!

I stopped here, at Gasworks Park, for this wonderful view of Lake Union's boathouses, one of which was featured in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. The park, once the site of a gas power plant, was busy preparing for the Fourth of July fireworks. The unusual Seattle heat meant though that I retreated back to my car, drove to nearby U District, and returned to Zovo Lingerie again to buy more camis and leggings.

Photo courtesy of DiAnne Grieser

Now you get to see me wearing the leggings, paired with a tunic blouse. The man on my side is one of DiAnne's friends, Henry, originally from Bangkok but living in Portland. The three of us, plus DiAnne's husband and son, had a blast, doing some bar-hopping and serious political discussions. We spent the evening having a "pan-Pacific" summit, as DiAnne called it, over a good Chinese dinner, some beer and mixed drinks, and all over the streets of Capitol Hill. We are outside the Crescent, a karaoke bar.

Seattle recap, Day 2

I took a leisurely Sunday drive, starting with a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.

This is the Bainbridge Island harbor. It looked great, but I found it not exciting enough.

I drove on to Poulsbo, a nearby Scandinavian town. Everything is Scandinavian-themed, including this street name. It was a bit more upbeat than Bainbridge Island, but still too quiet for me.

This poster in Olympia alerts concerned citizens to the Nazi rally to be held the next day. Although the rally was supposed to be the largest ever in the history of Washington State, it fortunately turned out to be a dud, with the Nazis overwhelmed by the counterprotesters. Nevertheless, the Nazi influence, in nearby states like Idaho, cannot be discounted.

After spending time in Olympia visiting with the Perretz-Rosales family, I moved on to Tacoma's Museum of Glass. This is the only area where photos are allowed; here, live glassmaking demonstration is taking place. Molten glass was being shaped like mud or clay, only more fluidly. Pretty amazing stuff.

A pond in Kubota Garden, which was started in the 1920s by a Japanese immigrant using Northwestern materials and Japanese designs. It deteriorated during his internment during World War II, but eventually saw completion in the 1960s. Upon Kubota-san's death, the garden was given to the City of Seattle, to be enjoyed by residents for free.

Seattle recap, Day 1

The Seattle area was a bit hot, but nevertheless wonderful, as I started my itinerary.

My first stop was Redmond, where I briefly toured the Microsoft Campus. Microsoft's official mailing address is One Microsoft Way.

The Microsoft Campus was a very large corporate park. One thing I liked about the layout was that there were plenty of green spaces, many of them being used as soccer fields, like this.

I rented an economy car to get maximum gas mileage. This is a Chevy Aveo, which was actually built in Korea by Daewoo, now a GM subsidiary. It pretty much drove like what I thought a $10K Korean car should drive. I had to give up power windows, CD player, and armrest, but those sacrifices were worth it.

Note the California license plate on the car, even though this car was based at the SeaTac airport. Everyone thought I had driven all the way up from Los Angeles.

A typical Seattle vista, seen from Asian Art Museum at Volunteer Park. The Space Needle and the Olympic Peninsula are visible in the distance. Seattle is full of vistas like this, and I loved being there for that reason.

This is the Wildrose, Seattle's main lesbian bar, located on Pike Street on Capitol Hill. In business since 1984, it claims to be the oldest women-run bar on the West Coast. I repeatedly went back here, and loved the atmosphere - gorgeous women enjoying a good evening out at the pool table, at the bar, at the dining tables, everywhere.

I noticed that men and transgenders were also very welcome here as well. In fact, I once returned here with one of DiAnne's male friends.

Photo courtesy of DiAnne Grieser

No, I didn't fly off to Vietnam. I continued my tour of Capitol Hill, and ran into this upscale, nice Vietnamese restaurant named Pho Cyclo, located across Broadway from Urban Outfitters. It was very hot in here, and you may notice me sweating in this photo. Of course, living up to my nickname, I am wearing my trademark miniskirt.

This BMW dealership is probably the only place on Capitol Hill that a Republican may ever visit. Appropriately, someone wrote this message on the driveway, calling for bodily harm of W, so that some Republican may see it and get pissed off. I had to pixelate the top word, otherwise I may be sent off to Guantanamo myself.

DiAnne's VW New Beetle has lots of bumper stickers adorning its rear window.

It's all over

My Seattle trip that is.

I almost missed my flight this morning, due to long lines and the airport tram breakdown. Thankfully, not only did I make it at the last minute, but my bag was the fourth one to come out to the baggage claim carousel when I returned to Los Angeles.

I'll now upload some photos in separate posts.

Seattle wrap-up

I put the finishing touches on my stay in the Puget Sound area today.

Starting with a late morning drive to Mt. Rainier (spectacular - but I've seen tall, spectacular mountains in California as well), I had to give up Mt. St. Helens due to excessive drive times posted at the Mt. Rainier visitor center. Oh well. Perhaps the next time I come up here, preferably driving through Portland and on to Vancouver, I could make a stop there.

After returning to Seattle for a quick tour of Chinatown and Little Saigon, I returned to the hotel, showered, changed, then headed south again - to Bob Perretz-Rosales in Olympia again, to join his 4th of July party. Though joined by tons of strangers, I didn't have much of a trouble introducing myself, since everyone knew Bob's cousin - and my writing instructor - Gayle. The conversations were very current events and politics oriented in nature, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that at least there was a consensus among the crowd, something I am hard pressed to find in my own circles back home. I had to cut short and return to the hotel though, since my flight home is very early tomorrow. At least, I was treated to a sight of dozens of fireworks displays in the twilight, stretching all the way from Olympia to Seattle and everywhere in between, as I returned.

So this ends my wonderful stay in the Puget Sound area. I came expecting to find just a face or two, and do sightseeing on my own. I got far more than that, doing some bar-hopping, 4th-of-July-partying, and other things that I have every right to do back home, but couldn't. I don't know if I'll ever be able to top this trip with a future trip of similar caliber. The best I can hope for is for me to move to a more tolerant, more urban neighborhood in Southern California, and make some of this magic happen at home.

Mexican election stolen?

I've just learned that the National Action Party's (PAN) candidate, Felipe Calderon, appears to have won the Mexican election by the narrowest of margins.

DiAnne and I have been discussing this issue, and DiAnne told me that the leftist candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), had led the polls. She is suspecting a stolen election by the PAN with the help of the Republicans in the US. I wouldn't disagree.

A PAN victory will worsen conditions in Mexico by continuing the destruction of what's left of the middle class. It will impact the US with more illegal immigrants flooding the border states. It will ensure that the right wing controls North American politics, combined with Conservative Stephen Harper of Canada. Last, but not the least, it will be an endorsement of Vicente Fox's gay-bashing politics.

If W indeed fixed Mexico's election, it wouldn't be the first time he meddled with the politics of a sovereign foreign country. For that alone, W deserves to be punished. And if PAN indeed used outside help from the US to fix the election in its favor, then maybe it should simply rename itself the American Republican Party of Mexico, and apply for statehood with the W regime; it doesn't deserve to rule a sovereign nation anymore.

BBC

More Seattle moments

My day was spent at Pike Place Market, Pacific Science Center (where I saw the Game On exhibit, with playable demonstrations of video games from Pong through Xbox 360), Gasworks Park, DiAnne's residence (where I was joined by DiAnne's husband, son, and a friend named Henry from Portland), and back in Capitol Hill area at a number of bars, including the Wildrose.

Here are some observations I've made in and around Seattle:

I've noticed a very strong progressive streak here. The pro-Bush bumper stickers, so common back in Southern California, are nowhere to be seen in Seattle. I found very few of them, only well outside, and only on cars from red states. Most Seattleites still carry on with their Kerry bumper stickers, and Capitol Hill was full of posters calling for helping the Democrats retake Congress, demanding W's resignation, and so forth. I've even found a message on a BMW dealership driveway, written in chalk, calling for bodily harm of W! It's nice to see the progressives fight back, and keep the state of Washington delicately balanced against the reactionaries east of the Cascades - for now.

Capitol Hill area feels just like San Francisco's Castro district, and I love it. There is the commercialized Broadway, which corresponds to Market Street in San Francisco, and there are the more local drags such as Pine and Pike Streets, corresponding to Castro Street in San Francisco. Seattle's edge seems to be the presence of the Wildrose lesbian bar, but in both cities, men own the bar scene.

Seattle area's geography makes the area compact, especially east to west. Unless I am traveling south beyond Tacoma or north into Snohomish County (I am not covering the latter on this trip), distances are short. Traffic sometimes gets pretty horrible, to Los Angeles standards, even on this weekend, but otherwise it's a pleasure to drive around town. Oddly enough, the cheapest gas stations are near the airport, where one would normally expect stations to rip off returning rental cars.

Gentrification is everywhere. Expensive condos are taking over both downtown and Capitol Hill. DiAnne actually welcomes the development though, because more younger people will be attracted to Seattle - the professional types who tend to be open-minded and vote Democratic. Higher population density will also spur mass transit development, she says. Prices seem to be pretty high, though more affordable than California levels.

I am falling in love with Emerald City, even with the unusual heat wave. I look forward to coming back for more (and hopefully covering Portland and Vancouver as well the next time). In the meantime, my final full day awaits, in the form of a road trip to Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.

More in Seattle

Another busy day around the Puget Sound.

My day began with a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. The ferry was seconds from departing when I drove my car onto it. Thanks to the fog, the Seattle skyline disappeared rather quickly soon after I departed. But I enjoyed the ferry ride, hanging out in the passenger department and having a quick breakfast.

Bainbridge Island was a bit too sleepy for my taste though, so I proceeded to Poulsbo, a Scandinavian town to the north. It was a bit of an improvement, but still too sleepy. The water and mountain views around the towns were very spectacular though!

From Poulsbo, a long drive south brought me to Olympia; I was falling asleep at the wheel, and had to stop for 15 minutes for a nap. I first went to Darby's Cafe for lunch; it was a lovely, funky place full of alternative, LGBT, and progressive posters. I then proceeded to the nearby De Colores Bookstore, where I was greeted by an Argentinian, Alexandro. Gayle's cousin Simon was there, and I briefly talked for a few minutes with the two plus a few customers. Alexandro called up Bob at home, and I proceeded to Bob's place.

Bob, another cousin of Gayle's, was a great man. I also got to meet his wife Griselda, another Argentinian. We first started talking about Gayle - and how I got to know her - then proceeded into progressive politics, life in the Puget Sound area as it compares to California, and lots more. I even got to tour the residence, where I was able to see Simon's room (complete with a Japanese birthday greeting card), not to mention a teenage photo of Gayle! Bob invited me to join his 4th of July party as well.

I wrapped up my day by visiting Tacoma's Museum of Glass, then the Kubota Garden back in Seattle. The museum was too expensive ($10) for a smallish collection, though it did have a great live demonstration of glassmaking. The garden was sizable and free, but not very enjoyable thanks to my shoes - strappy heeled sandals not suitable for heavy walking.

I returned to my hotel to find a rude surprise - my room key stopped working, and had to be re-programmed. But otherwise, this was a good day, with plenty of time to spare for blogging and rest.

Tomorrow, I will return to Seattle, where DiAnne may have another acquaintance for me to meet with; plus, there may be some extra sights worth seeing, either with her or on my own.

Seattle kickoff

First, I forgot to mention that as I flew into Seattle, I noticed that my flight's first officer was a woman. I like it when women pilots (or any women doing traditionally male occupation) are in control. United Airlines has a lot of women pilots, and I've flown with them quite a bit; it's one reason I keep going back to United, despite the bastard executives.

Now, on to yesterday. I spent an exhausting day, but I am very happy with how it turned out.

The day started in Redmond (I did end up on the eastside after all), where I took a brief tour of the Microsoft campus and also stopped at the Nintendo of America headquarters.

I briefly moved on to the U District, where I stopped by at Zovo Lingerie, featured on the June 2006 issue of In Style as a place where Sarah McLachlan shopped. I picked up a camisole and a pair of leggings. The sales clerk and I briefly discussed the current 1980s revival fashion in the meantime, talking about how the leggings revival popped up out of nowhere - first in California, then on the University of Washington campus. Afterwards, I proceeded to downtown for more shopping, to pick up a few items that will go along with these new purchases.

The Seattle Asian Art Museum stop turned out to be a dud for the most part. However, it was a free admissions day, and I was also led into the museum's auditorium for a free dance performance, which turned out to be a series of Korean traditional dance routines. I also saw a Korean mask dance later on in one of the exhibit halls. It was worth noting that the performers were women, including ones wearing male costumes and playing male roles.

I killed time at the REI flagship store before meeting with Meighan Doherty of Action Northwest for the interview, which went very well. I focused on the peculiarities of coming out as transgender AND lesbian in an ethnic community. As it turned out, Meighan was a member of Fallen Goddess, and we talked about the various members of that community as well.

I wound down by meeting with the Democracy Cell Project member, DiAnne Grieser. After introducing DiAnne and Meighan to each other so that they can work together in the future, DiAnne and I spent time - at the Wildrose lesbian bar, at the Pho Cyclo Vietnamese restaurant on Broadway, and on the streets of Capitol Hill. I was completely exhausted from the unusual heat and the long day though, and had to turn in a bit early. We promised to meet together again, on Monday. In the meantime, we had a very good chat, on Democracy Cell Project, on American and international politics, and on life in general.

Today will be busy again, and I am running late already. Better get dressed and going! Photos will follow when I can get time.

Arrived in Seattle

Just an hour ago, I touched down in Seattle. I've picked up my rental car and checked into my hotel room.

It'll be a very hectic four days - but I'll enjoy every bit of it.

The flight into Seattle was great. I will post some thoughts on the flight in my novel blog when I wake up in the morning, perhaps.