The Apostrophe Blog
Friday afternoon in what was a cold winter day in the Pacific Northwest, we took our newly-painted signs and caught the Yellow light rail over by New Seasons in Arbor Lodge. We headed downtown where we joined the throngs of other stalwarts at a protest in front of the Hilton Hotel. The Hilton brand has been allowing the paramilitary thugs of the CPB and ICE divisions of the Department of Homeland Security to stay in their assorted hotels. Boycotts have been called for; we just switched a number of our travel reservations for a March trip Back East. There were speakers on a rolling wagon. There was music including a song with lyrics about the guillotine. There were megaphones and a list of demands against Hilton Hotels. And there was a rack of free inflatable costumes provided by Operation Inflation, a group that has been bringing this “tactical frivolity” to the protests here in PDX for the past four or five months. I actually scored my very own Frog costume! Woo-woo.
People were bundled up. People were sick and tired of the thug nonsense. People were pissed off. And still are. I painted my sign—now on display in the living room window for all the passing dog-walkers and stroller pushers to see—the day before these paramilitary brutes murdered Alex Pretti in cold blood near a doughnut shop in a business district in South Minneapolis early Saturday morning. The days have been a continuing blur of disbelief and horror for so many of us since then. It is hard to believe it is ever going to stop. Kudos to the brave “helpers” in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the towns surrounding the Twin Cities who are boots on the ground, bearing witness and showing up to help their neighbors, their diverse communities in sub-zero weather to boot. Mister Rogers would be oh so proud.
Interests: Reading, writing, not arithmetic. The art and craft of poetry. Photography. Vegetable and flower gardening especially heirloom bulbs and dahlias. Movies in real theatres. Theatre on real stages. Art in real galleries. Crossword puzzles and, of course, Wordle. Singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann and Patti Griffin. All kinds of music especially 1930s jazz. Venice, Italy! The Dude abides.
- Acceptance News: wildscape literary journal - January 28, 2026
- To get the ink flowing again… - January 27, 2026
- Put ICE on ice! - January 26, 2026
