If you blended Beatrix Potter with Stephen King, you might come close to Hans Christian Andersen. All three writers started life with severely limited opportunities. All three overcame those challenges through hard work, grit, and the necessary dashes of chutzpah and luck. And, all three focus (in their own, unique way) on the tough realities…
“It was the truly international murder case that captivated the world.” This is how People Magazine described the media circus surrounding the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in the home she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy. Across the globe, millions watched, wondered, gossiped, and guessed at what truly happened on that…
If modern scientists are to be believed, when the star we orbit starts to die, it will expand into a red giant, becoming so large that it engulfs Mercury and Venus, and possibly the Earth as well. Until then, life will endure on our planet, and the vast majority of that life will be non-humanoid….
Since its inception, The Vashon Loop has been two things: free to all and primarily supported by the Vashon business community. We aim to keep the first and change the second, and we are asking for your help to do this. Our reasoning is simple: The past three years have been extremely challenging for small…
When people talk about “trusting the experts,” what they’re really talking about is delegating decision-making to someone else. Sometimes this makes sense, sometimes it doesn’t, but in all cases … it’s an illusion. Our decisions are always our own, including a decision to follow another person’s lead. Life is challenging. Anyone telling you it isn’t…
Reflections on the SPJ Code of Ethics As a receiver of information, a reader of newspapers, a browser of magazines, a participant in social media platforms, a subscriber on YouTube, Rumble, Substack (and other platforms), a listener of radio shows and an all-around consumer of media … what does honesty look like to you? Isn’t…
By March Twisdale Welcome to our new series, focused on Island Businesses that lie well outside of Vashon Town. For the Island newbie and the occasional visitor, this network of resources, services, professionals, experts, and knowledge is almost entirely hidden from view, and discovery is not easy. Many do not advertise. Some do not even…
By March Twisdale Written roughly 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair’s novel, “The Jungle,” captures the breadth of human behavior, both then and now. There is an interesting fact about fictional stories. No matter how far the author’s imagination strays from what is considered real or mundane, the fundamental basis of their work, the world, the…
Note: #8 Across and #4 Down are multiple words. The space between the words is one character long. SPOILERS!!!! Answers follow. Are you really ready to look? Okay. Here they are. Across: 1. Candles 3. Cashmere 8. The Vashon Loop 9. Jupiter 12. Ofrenda 15. Copal 16. Soup Down: 2. Luminarias 4. Muck boots 5….