The online application process for Washington state — Welcome to part 2 of Going (Notary) Public, a series on the why, how, and what of becoming a notary public. In this post I will breakdown the online application process I followed in order to become licensed in Washington state. …

I’m becoming a notary public & blogging about it — There comes a time in a man’s life when he must bear witness to a sacred signing of fate-sealing documents. My first encounter probably came as I got approved for a loan, a conclusive stamp pressed at the end of a very exhausting process of many very serious adult papers…

It’s still early but things look competitive — Happy Spring 2023 — it’s early election season for the City of Seattle. Think back to March 2019 if you can, what a hell of a four years it’s been since we last had one of these. The coming city council election promises to be competitive and high stakes, with…

Uncapping the House for a more representative democracy — To Congressmember Jayapal, My name is Andre and I have been one of your constituents since you were first elected in 2016. I’m a voter in the Greenlake neighborhood. I believe you’re a supporter of grassroots, representative, small d democracy and are aware of the many ways in which our…

The Congressmember with the right politics, leadership, and standing to fill Kamala Harris’s seat — With the victory of the Biden-Harris ticket, California will soon have a vacant Senate seat to be filled by appointment by Governor Gavin Newsom. There is, of course, no shortage of eager and highly credentialed politicians in California, but this is a case that Ro Khanna the Democratic Representative of…

Over 700 National Delegates are voting “no” on the party platform and there is no ambiguity as to why — Bernie Sanders played an important role in transforming me from a political hobbyist, someone who engages in politics passively as a watcher/reader/Facebooker, to a political activist, someone who shows up in-person, donates their time and money, organizes with others, and works to accomplish clearly defined goals.

A card game variant invented through misremembered rules — It began with a casual, “What were the rules again?” followed by 20 minutes of dubious misremembering and became a fun and apparently unique variant of a card game “popular in post-Soviet states.” For the uninitiated, Durak (Russian for “fool”) is a simple and flexible card game with subtly deep…

A labored explanation of what one of your songs means to me — Dear Ratatat, I want to publicly thank you for the music you make. I’m not sure you’ve written a song I don’t like, but this is about one particular song with special significance to me. Abrasive, from your latest album “Magnifique” is, if such a designation has any meaning, my…

How the presidential debates went from an innovative way to educate American voters to a bipartisan tool to suppress political opposition. — Since 1988, the presidential debates have been run by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bi-partisan committee controlled by (you guessed it) the GOP and the DNC. This election, candidates must get on the ballot in enough states that they could win the general election, and poll nationwide at…