Since 2001 I have written for print and the Web, and this is some of my best work. For more about me, click here.
Drawing a New Line: How a tattoo shop in Ballard saved two lives
Published in the Ballard News-Tribune
December 14, 2005
When Aaron and Melissa Bell met 14 years ago in their native Southern California, Aaron was an artist and the lead singer in a band. Melissa dated the guitar player. They lived fast and hard.
“We were both pretty wild youngsters,” says Aaron.
When they got together they soon decided they needed a change. They wanted to start over, begin a new life away from the lifestyle that kept them into drugs and alcohol. Within a week, Aaron and Melissa got married and moved to Washington.
What Kids Love About the Garden
Published in Destination Issaquah
Spring 2006
My grandmother got me into the garden because it was something she enjoyed doing with her own mother. It’s this generational interest that keeps kids engaged in things well into their adult lives, that teaches them lessons that are otherwise unavailable from television and the Internet. Now that spring is here, it’s the perfect time to get back outside, and to take the kids, too. There are plenty of places to help you get them interested in all the fun to be had in the garden.
Second-hand Pit Bulls: Since 2002 the Pit Bull Project has given hundreds of dogs the chance of a lifetime–a loving home.
Published in City Dog Magazine
Winter 2005
“How’s her prey drive?”
“What?” I asked.
Anne Holte, director of the Pit Bull Project, held a cricket in her palm and looked down at Ana, my 6-year-old Pit Bull mix who lay at my feet. Holte dropped the cricket on the floor in front of Ana’s nose and it quickly disappeared under the metal cabinet. Ana hadn’t even noticed it. Holte shrugged and finished filling the bag for her customer.
Holte works more than 65 hours a week at Ideal Pet Shop, the store she has managed for nine years. The networking opportunity it provides is a major part of how she has been able to help second-hand Pit Bulls find loving, responsible homes. Right now she manages more than 40 dogs in foster homes around Seattle, and since founding the Project in 2002 has found homes for more than 400 dogs.