Ever since I was a teenager, I have struggled with depression. While my actual diagnosis is Bipolar II Disorder with severe anxiety, it largely manifests as depression. Sometimes it is just there in the background as a small voice in my head saying that things aren't ok; other times it is crippling, making small things…
My eyes closed in the sun Arms spread to the eager winds I float Though my feet remain firm to the ground. This is a flight of the soul A soaring of the spirit A journey of the mind And I am forever changed. Rocky crags rise above valleys that seem never to have felt…
Spokane is Washington's second largest city, and the only noticeable metropolitan area for hundreds of miles around. However, its location on the far eastern edge of the state makes it the ideal home base to explore not only Eastern Washington, but the Idaho Panhandle and Western Montana as well. Many people, though, make the mistake…
I have been fascinated with the idea of the World's Fair ever since my parents read a children's book to me long ago about the invention of the ice cream cone at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. This excitement only increased when I recently read Devil in the White City about the 1893 Chicago…
In 1914, Spokane, Washington was booming. The city was the jewel of the northwest, a center for timber and the rich mining of northern Idaho. A devastating fire a couple decades earlier, in 1889, had nearly destroyed the city, but in so doing, had opened the door for new entrepreneurs and businessmen to find themselves…
In 1974, a small city in eastern Washington, in the midst of an identity crisis, decided to do the unthinkable: become the smallest city ever to host a World's Fair. In so doing, the city forever changed itself. This is the story of that event, and of the incredible community that emerged from it. This…
At my house I keep two large laminated maps on the wall. One is a world map and the other is a United States map. On each, I put star stickers on places I have been. The stars are all blue, though since the star manufacturer changed, they are in two slightly different shades. Don't…
About an hour outside of San Francisco lies the small city of Fairfield, California. Its claim to fame: the Jelly Belly factory. For candy connoisseurs, many of them children, this has long been a popular tourist destination, or a day trip stop for Bay Area families. But is it worth the visit? The view from…
California's Central Valley is nothing like the postcard pictures of the Golden State everyone imagines. There are no surfers, no beautiful people sipping designer coffees or juices. This is farm country, some of the best and most productive in the country, and maybe even the world. It is flat, it is dry, it is dusty…
In fairness, like most large cities, Los Angeles has a lot of cool buildings. However, at the advice of my friend Sandy, we took a tour of the central branch of the Los Angeles Public Library in downtown LA. The building is pretty incredible. Built in 1926, this iconic structure is the largest branch of…