Elise Sereni Patkotak

I have a pair of faded jeans. They are basically two washes away from not existing. I always look in the washer and think I’m just going to see some blue fuzz where the pants used to be

But they are my “home” pants. They are so worn that the elastic waist barely holds them up. Every ten steps or so, I have to pull them up again. They match perfectly with the rotating line of Kivgiq sweatshirts I wear with them. The sweatshirts are all from the 1990s. They are as worn as the pants. Ergo – they match. Continue reading →

We went to war twenty years ago in Afghanistan because the Taliban were a terrorist organization that did not have legitimacy to rule and harbored Al Qaeda. Now, twenty years later, we are negotiating with them to allow them to rule again. Because, as we all know, once we’re out of there, they will do whatever the hell they want.

So given that the Taliban is still pretty terroristic, and given that we are about to hand them a destroyed country while wishing them the best of luck, what exactly have we accomplished there?

Well, we have created a generation Continue reading →

Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer. Many of you who have just read that for the first time are probably now trying desperately to repress the first thoughts that spring into your mind because you feel bad that you have them. Well, buck up. You are not alone.

I can’t shake the feeling that if I put into writing my first thoughts upon hearing this news I’ll go directly to a hell I’m guessing he’ll also occupy.

I don’t express those thoughts – ok, ok, let’s just say that ran along the lines of hoping he suffers and dies slowly… Continue reading →

When I was young and vigorous – and I do faintly remember those days – I went out into the streets to protest for racial equality and the end of the Vietnam War. It was a heady time. I was young and totally caught up in the causes so dear to my heart. Marching in the streets just seemed like the right thing to do.

And now here we are, more than a lifetime later, and I’m wondering where I put my marching shoes. Because I am ready to go back into the streets if that’s what it takes to Continue reading →

I am so grateful to Mr. Dershowitz, for his cogent and convincing argument that so long as a president thinks it’s in the country’s best interest, it’s not illegal no matter what he does.

I’d like to get in on this logic as I find it quite helpful to my fulfilling my bucket list. So here goes.

I believe it’s in my best interest to have Bill Gates give me half his fortune and I will break into his bank account and get it myself if he doesn’t cooperate.

I believe it is in my best interest to star in Continue reading →

I’ve often felt that my generation – the Baby Boomers – had the best of all possible worlds. I grew up in a time when America had a strong middle class. Families survived on one income. Upward mobility was possible. College was affordable. Housing was available at a reasonable price. Jobs were available upon graduation.

And then Reagan came into office and it all changed. We are still waiting for his trickle down economics to work. So far the trickle hasn’t happened because all the money was put into third and fourth homes and yachts for the now super rich Continue reading →

And so the sun sets on another day in Sin City, home of the greatest patriots and the sleaziest politicians the world has ever produced. Still we are left to wonder – will they or won’t they? Will Mitch McConnell take his virginity out of the box and let it become dirtied with truth? Would Mitch even know truth if it gobsmacked him in the face? Given his clear fear of the truth, I think it’s safe to say that he will do everything except fall on his sword for Orange Peel to avoid it.

But maybe – and I Continue reading →

Yes, I am a diehard public broadcasting fan. Have been since the first day it was heard in Barrow back in the early 70s. Until then, if you wanted to listen to the radio, you went out to the end of Fresh Water Lake road and tried desperately to tune in AFRN out of the Fairbanks area. If you were very, very lucky, you heard the scratchy sounds of a song playing in the distance. It was not until public broadcasting became a reality that those trips became unnecessary.

Beyond that, I have always, ALWAYS, found the reporting to actually Continue reading →

I got a message from Netflix today about confirming my subscription. It started with the words, “Hello, dear”. I think it may not really be from Netflix. What do you think? Dears… Continue reading →

When I was growing up, my mother had a question that I heard a lot. It went like this. “Doesn’t he/she have a mirror in their house?” She was usually referring to someone in the news – or someone walking past our grocery store on a slow day. Either way, the meaning was clear. The way they were dressed was simply ugly or wild or stupid looking, i.e. tasteless. And now, here we have our very own militias embracing all three errors in one sweet look.

So like my mother, I must ask, do you people not have mirrors in Continue reading →