(Note: I wrote this essay after watching the recently debuted Netflix movie version of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on the play by African-American dramatist August Wilson. …

I actually had to look up the phrase on Google Translate. “Can I play?” “Puedo jugar?” It was a scene right out of a movie — the kid standing on the sidelines, watching a pickup game and wishing someone would invite him to join. …

So, it’s Starbucks. Again. Call me David. (See, there was a character in Moby-Dick named Starbuck, which served as the inspiration for… oh, never mind.) According to Google Maps, it’s 4,414 miles from where I sit in this Costa Rica Starbucks to the Mothership (Starbucks global headquarters) in Seattle. Somehow…

Costa Ricans love their football. No, not the NFL (although you can find those games on TV down here). The game that is actually played with the feet — fútbol, in Spanish. Only in the USA is the world’s most popular sport referred to as “soccer”… but in deference…

The Man in the Street Alarm blares. Hit snooze. Turn over in bed, burrow deeper under the covers. No, not yet. Just a few more minutes…. Alarm blares. Repeat. Alarm blares. OK, OK. Give up. Turn off alarm, throw back covers, climb out of bed. Stumble to shower. It’s Monday…

I’ve been observing, volunteering and writing about homelessness in Seattle for the past 28 months. My writing, and subsequent activism on the issue, was sparked by regular encounters with people sleeping on the streets of the University District. I’ve worked in the neighborhood since the fall of 2012, and because…