Get up close with Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (2010) at the Olympic Sculpture Park, where you can walk among these monumental sculptures. Consisting of 12 zodiac head sculptures arranged in an arcing semicircle, each animal in Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads stands over ten feet tall and weighs over 1500 pounds. The sculptures are installed in order of the traditional Chinese zodiac cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.
The works reconceive the 12 zodiac heads that decorated an 18th-century Qing imperial fountain before they were looted during the Second Opium War (1856–60). Seven are based on the original heads that have survived, and Ai researched and reimagined the five animals still missing to complete the zodiac. This work embodies Ai’s long-standing questioning of our tendency to value the real over the fake and the original over the copy.
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads joins over twenty monumental sculptures in the park, including The Eagle (1971) by Alexander Calder, Wake (2002–3) by Richard Serra, and Seattle Cloud Cover (2006) by Teresita Fernández. See this temporary installation situated in the Ackerly Meadow, just outside of the PACCAR Pavilion at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Seattle’s largest green space, the nine-acre sculpture park, is free and open daily from thirty minutes before sunrise to thirty minutes after sunset.
Special funding for this installation provided by Jeffrey* and Susan Brotman, the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, and the Walker Family Fund.
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It’s hard to believe it. So many things keep us off kilter these days. We have Trump towers, Trump coins, Trump signed currency, Trump performing arts–and even a Trump Rebellion and a Trump War.
But the latest is the renaming of Washington D.C. He is now pushing for a new improved image of our nation’s capitol. TRUMP D.C. Amazing that this would occur on April 1st. Happy Day all.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Another name change – Trump D.C.
Skyline Happenings (this blog) started in 2014 when residents had no easy way of hearing about each other, learning about the goings on in the community or simply having fun and sharing interesting postings that we could all enjoy as a community. Increasing in activity over the ensuing 11+ years, 194 of you have now opted to subscribe to the blog. There have been 6560 blog postings, 448,000 views logged since the blog went live.
I plan to retire from hosting the blog in June and am in hopes that one or more of you will take on the role of “administrator.” This may sound daunting, but I’m more than willing to help in a transition. I know nothing about computer programming but did need to learn a bit of the WordPress format in order to operate the blog. My activity has been mainly reading, then cutting and pasting the articles you send me into a “new post.” At times I’ll publish a YouTube video which only requires pasting the URL link. Other times I’ll look for interesting articles in the media you might have missed.
The blog content is eclectic for sure–politics, health, humor, aging, etc. By intention, I’ve avoided any Skyline criticisms or gossip. Personal identities have been been shielded as much as possible. Several people outside of Skyline (families, TA staff, other CCRC residents, etc. have become subscribers). Skyline’s portal, Caremerge, deals only with internal Skyline activities so the blog is complimentary in being able to highlight activities in the community.
Can the functions of the blog be expanded and improved? For sure! All it will take is action from you with positive imagination and interest.
Please contact me by email, text or in person with your thoughts about continuing Skyline Happenings. I’m hoping that the blog can have a bright future. Your interest and support have been greatly appreciated.
It all started nearly four years ago when Michigan artist Andrea Zelenak had the idea to turn an old bait and tackle vending machine into something a little more meaningful.
In 2022, the artist, who is from the Detroit area, set up a refurbished, brightly colored vending machine on Monroe Avenue in Grand Rapids. She called it The Kindness Challenge.
Inside the machine were three different kinds of challenges that encourage people to extend kindness: Green is an easy challenge; yellow is a medium one; pink ones are the more difficult ones to execute.
The challenges inside the machine are color-coded. Photo courtesy of InkCourage/Instagram
Zelenak first received a grant to create the project from an organization in Grand Rapids. As the owner of what she calls “an encouragement shop” called Inkcourage, she knew she wanted to make doing good accessible to everyone.
“The idea is that one act of kindness can create a wave of kindness in a community,” she told ABC 13 News, “so I’m really just challenging people to do one small act of kindness in order to create this bigger wave.”
In 2026, the vending machine is still alive and well. Over the years, it’s traveled around Michigan, at art festivals and various retail and arts districts. Right now, it’s located in Detroit, right outside of Zelenak’s store.
The Kindness Challenge machine at ArtPrize in fall 2025. Photo courtesy of InkCourage/Instagram
“You can come up — it’s open 24/7 — so you can come any time you want, and grab a mystery item from the machine,” Zelenak said in a recent social media video. “It’s inspired by the butterfly effect, so the idea is that when you do one random act of kindness for somebody, it creates a ripple of kindness in your community.”
The machine works like any other vending machine, accepting cash, coins, and even tap to pay options. According to FOX17 in 2022, each item costs $3, with the funds all going back to create more kindness challenges.
What gets dispensed is an envelope filled with everything someone might need to execute an act of kindness.
The color-coded challenges await customers. Photo courtesy of InkCourage/Instagram
Challenges might include giving someone in need a warm hat, sharing a stick of gum, writing a thank you note, or posting encouraging words in public.
In the years since the machine has been operational, thousands of people have participated. In a recent installation at an event called ArtPrize, Zelenak shared that over 3,000 acts of kindness had been dispensed, and she ran out of challenges during the event.
The machine gives out assignments, but Zelenak hopes it also inspires a bit of individual creativity.
“If somebody says something kind to you, you will remember that for maybe a week, or five years, or the rest of your life,” she told ABC 13. “So I really feel like these words are really powerful no matter what you do with it.”
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Ed note: One day when I was still in medical practice, a woman let me know that she felt unable to move on from the grief of loosing her husband a few years back. We talked about options for trying to move forward and I casually mentioned the idea of volunteering. I didn’t see her for a few years, so I was a bit surprised to see her beaming when she came to my office. She said she found her release by volunteering at Sea-Tac helping travelers find their way through the maze there. Beyond that, she met someone now so important in her life.
A few qualities, including a sense of purpose, seem to have real benefits — especially as you age.
Nan Niland, 72, worked as a dentist for 40 years. “It really was my self-definition,” she said. “Probably too much.”
When she retired in 2020, she settled into a routine of exercising, reading, sewing and spending time in nature. But after awhile, she began to crave a little more structure and purpose.
Then she read about the Newton, Mass., charity Welcome Home in a local newsletter. The organization serves as a home goods pantry, collecting and redistributing household items to families in need.
Today, Ms. Niland volunteers there about 15 hours a week. “I needed to feel like I was doing something other than pleasing myself,” she said.
Much has been written about how physical behaviors, like exercise, diet and sleep, contribute to a long and healthy life. But research suggests that, as you age, a positive mind-set — including optimism and a sense of purpose — can benefit your health and longevity, too.
Mattering matters.
Feeling that you are valued and have something to contribute to others, often called mattering, can help drive you toward positive health behaviors that influence longevity. “If you feel like you matter, you’re more likely to stay socially connected, to take care of yourself, to show up for others, to keep investing in life,” said Jennifer B. Wallace, the author of a new book, “Mattering.”
When Dr. Linda Fried worked as a geriatrician at Johns Hopkins Medicine early in her career, she realized that many of her patients were “legitimately feeling sick,” but the cause of their sickness stemmed from “not having a reason to get up in the morning.”
Dr. Fried, now a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University, started recommending that her patients volunteer at an organization that they care about. Not long after, she started her own volunteer program to study the potential benefits on older adults.
Volunteering isn’t the only path to mattering. Becoming a regular at a coffee shop, dog park or other third place can also help you feel more connected. “Finding environments where you feel like you matter, it’s protective against the loneliness and the lack of mattering that can creep in in retirement,” Ms. Wallace said.
Optimism is powerful, too.
Maintaining a positive outlook on life, and about aging in particular, also appears to benefit people in their later years.
A 2022 study found that women over 50 who scored highest on a measure of optimism lived, on average, 5 percent longer and had a greater chance of making it to age 90 than those who scored lowest. And a study published this month reported that adults 50 and up who had a positive attitude about getting older — saying they felt as useful or as happy as they did when they were younger — were more likely to maintain, or even slightly improve, on tests of physical and cognitive ability when tracked over 12 years.
Like with mattering, feeling positive about one’s future seems to affect a person’s health by influencing their behaviors, said Becca Levy, a professor of public health and psychology at Yale University who led the recent study. When someone feels they have something to look forward to, they’re more likely to follow medical advice, get more physical activity and maintain social connections. Dr. Levy’s research has shown that having a positive outlook on aging can even protect against stress, resulting in lower levels of cortisol and markers ofinflammation.
Of course, getting older isn’t easy. Losing a loved one, having to navigate an illness or becoming a caretaker can all affect one’s sense of identity and perspective. Remaining optimistic in these types of situations isn’t about being in denial about the hard parts of life, said Deepika Chopra, a health psychologist and author of “The Power of Real Optimism.”
“It’s much more related, I think, to resiliency than it is to positivity,” Dr. Chopra said. People who are optimistic “see these setbacks as something that are temporary and that they have the ability to overcome.”
To help engender a sense of optimism, Dr. Chopra recommends being intentional about looking forward to something every day. That could be a walk outside, a conversation with a friend, even what you’re going to have for dinner.
“When people repeatedly imagine the future as limited or declining, which a lot of people aging do, the brain begins to kind of reinforce those expectations,” Dr. Chopra said. “But if we can consciously direct attention toward even something small, a small positive future moment every day,” she said, it trains the brain to anticipate that good things are still on the horizon.
Dr. Chopra’s grandfather, Madan Syal, embodies this attitude. He said he feels positive about getting older and enjoys playing cards with his wife every day. But what he’s really looking forward to is turning 100 this July.
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it. Luke 19:41
Irony and tragedy — The crowds were cheering a political-military messiah they imagined would conquer Rome. Jesus knew the real battle was spiritual, and that their misunderstanding would lead to ruin. He foresaw the city’s coming destruction (which happened in 70 AD when Rome devastated Jerusalem).
We are often called “the elderly,” but that quiet label hides a truth most people rarely pause to consider: we are the last living witnesses of a world that no longer exists.
If you look closely, you might notice gray hair, slower steps, or the quiet patience that time alone can teach. But if you truly listen to our stories, you will discover something far more extraordinary. We are not simply older people moving through the final chapters of life. We are the survivors of one of the most breathtaking transformations in human history — a generation that walked from the slow, deliberate rhythm of an analog world into the dazzling speed of a digital one.
Our journey began in a very different place.
Many of us were born in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, when the scars of World War II were still fresh across Europe and Asia and the world was slowly learning how to hope again. Cities rose from rubble. Families rebuilt lives after years of uncertainty. Childhood unfolded in ways that would feel almost unrecognizable to younger generations today. Our toys were simple: marbles played in dusty yards, hopscotch drawn on cracked sidewalks, checkers and cards gathered around kitchen tables while the smell of dinner filled the house. When the streetlights flickered on in the evening, it was the universal signal that childhood adventures were over for the day and it was time to go home.
There were no smartphones, no streaming videos, no endless scroll of digital distractions. Instead, we built our memories in the real world — with scraped knees, laughter echoing down neighborhood streets, and friendships that formed face to face, without the mediation of screens.
Music became one of the defining soundtracks of our youth. The 1960s and 1970s arrived like a wave of color and rebellion. We watched culture shift around us, carried by electric guitars and voices that dared to question the world. For many of us, gatherings like the legendary Woodstock Festival of 1969 symbolized something powerful: the belief that peace, music, and community could reshape the future. Hundreds of thousands of young people stood together in muddy fields, listening to artists who poured raw emotion into towering speakers known as the Wall of Sound. Those concerts were not merely entertainment; they were moments when strangers felt like a single generation singing the same hope under an open sky.
Education looked different then, too. Our notebooks were filled with handwritten notes carefully copied from chalkboards. Research required patience, long hours in libraries, and stacks of heavy books rather than a quick internet search. We learned to slow down and think through ideas because information did not arrive instantly. Mistakes were corrected with erasers and ink, not with the click of a delete button. (continued on Page 2 or here)
On March 28, millions of people marched in peaceful “No Kings” protests across the United States and Europe, against the war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s actions.
In cities like Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, in the US, and Rome, London, and Paris in Europe, people gathered shoulder-to-shoulder to show their resistance to the Trump administration — and their signs were remarkable. Here are some of the most impressive ones:
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Posted inprotests|Comments Off on The 50 best signs!
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has unleashed an alarming series of attacks on US cultural, arts, and historical institutions. On March 27, 2025, the administration released Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order took specific aim at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, singling out exhibits at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the planned Smithsonian Women’s History Museum. The administration demanded that the Smithsonian “remove improper ideology” within the institution’s museums, education and research centers, and National Zoo.1 On August 12, 2025, the Trump administration sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institution titled “Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials,” which stated that “we will be leading a comprehensive internal review of selected Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”2
In addition to the Smithsonian, the executive order had another explicit target: the cultural sites under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior (DOI), including the National Park Service (NPS). The DOI was ordered to scrub any “content that inappropriately disparage[s] Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times)” from its sites, which include public monuments, memorials, statues, and markers.3 On May 20, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued Secretarial Order 3431, also titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” In this order, Burgum directed all NPS sites to perform an internal review of all their signage and additionally required these sites to post new signs asking the public to report “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.”4 Burgum laid out deadlines for interpretative signs to be changed to comply with the executive order.
Collectively, these documents reveal a chilling reality: the current US administration views existing practices of preservation and interpretation of history, culture, and art as an active threat. As Trump stated in Executive Order 14253,
It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.5
In sum, these documents detail the administration’s goals to stifle works of culture and accounts of history that go against their chosen ideology and remove portions of history that, in the administration’s view, do not cast the United States in a good light.
While it may seem incomprehensible why this administration has chosen to attack an institution that has long been appreciated by Americans across the political spectrum, we can better understand when we remember that the National Park Service, established in 1916, is, in essence, the nation’s “largest outdoor history classroom.”6 While we may traditionally picture parks like Yosemite when thinking of National Parks, the NPS also includes National Historic Sites, National Monuments, National Battlefields, and more. Every NPS site, regardless of type, is designated by Congress and has a unique mandate to tell the story of the historic significance of that site. To meet this goal, each site displays interpretive signs and text to help visitors learn about the land and historic events in that location, connecting them to American history, often beyond what can be learned in a classroom.7 Creating interpretations for these sites is a long process that involves consultation with local community groups and stakeholders, consideration of accessibility for visitors with differing reading levels and disabilities, and incorporation of interactive activities and videos. (continue on Page 2 or here)
If you happen to have a disabled parking pass, you’re allowed to drive on the restricted road in the upper part of the arboretum (plenty of parking and a restroom). There are still some lovely camelia blossoms as they near the end of their early bloom. Can’t wait for the azaleas and rhodys.
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This Saturday, March 28, we’re broadcasting live from No Kings protests across the country.Three streams. Reporters and contributors embedded at multiple sites. More on-the-ground coverage than you’ll find anywhere else!What’s happeningThe list of reasons why we protest grows every day. Our friends at Indivisible, MoveOn, and The 50501 Movement say that over 3,000 events are planned, with millions expected to take to the streets to reject lawless authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.April Ryanwill take us through the day’s events aNo Kings protests in New Orleans, Kansas. October 2025.nd bring you on-the-ground protest coverage from all over the country.Jennifer Rubin, Katie Phang, and Tim Dickinson will be on the ground reporting from key protests in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and Portland — and we are working directly with organizers in dozens more cities to bring you coverage from across the nation.We’ll welcome some of our favorite Contrarians, including Norman Eisen, to talk about how we got here, what’s happening in major cities and small towns across America, and where we go from here.No Kings protests in New Orleans, Kansas. October 2025.How to find The Contrarian No Kings coverageWe will livestream 3 times throughout the day on Saturday, March 28: 3pm, 6pm, and 8:30pm ETThe shows will be available LIVE on contrariannews.org and on the Contrarian YouTube channel. You can join on desktop or mobile.Subscribers, whether you are free or paid, will get access to the stream links ahead of time, so stay tuned for an email with those details later this week.We will also post the shows after they air, so if you’re out protesting, you can catch up on all the happenings from across the U.S. when you get backHow can you help?Show up to a protest and find your fellow Contrarians! Find an event near you.Attend a No Kings training this week before the big day.Share this to help spread the word about the millions of people around the world who are standing up for democracy and don’t want to sit back while Trump’s fascism takes hold.
Posted inAdvocacy, Government, Media, Politics, protests|Comments Off on Join us for LIVE coast-to-coast coverage of the United States standing up against Trump’s corruption—because America doesn’t bow to kings.
When switching to a lower dose of this medication, a patient found that the cost for a three month supply increased from $24.88 for the 90 mg dose to $644.01 for the 60 mg dose. That’s about a 25 fold increase. No explanation could be found, but there was a solution. Following the insert directions it was discovered the 90 mg. pill could be crushed with a spoon and easily dissolved in a cup of water–then by simply drinking 2/3 of the cup the correct dose was achieved. Wonder if others have discovered this.
Posted inHealth|Comments Off on Less can be much much more–caveat emptor
WHEN: March 28—Saturday–In support of the No Kings! rally and march. We will demonstrate from 10:30-11:30, at 8th & Madison. This timing will allow interested people to attend the noon No Kings! rally at Cal Anderson Park and the march from Cal Anderson to the Seattle Center. This event is one of 3100 demonstrations across the country by those protesting the actions and policies of the government and attacks on our democracy.
Bring your signs and voices! Spread the word!
Seniors at the Crossroads Steering Committee
NOTICE: please let us know if you don’t want to receive our emails and we’ll be happy to take your name off the mailing list
**Seniors at the Crossroads is an informal network of seniors who regularly gather at their nearby busy crossroads and intersections to use their First Amendment rights in defense of the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and Justice. We call for a country that values and cares for all its people. Twice a month, on the second and fourth Thursdays, our local group gathers for an hour, with home-made signs and our voices, to defend these principles. We meet from 4:30 to 5:30 pm.
A monumental tulip sculpture finds a new home at Seattle U. Plus, the local dance piece that ‘fractals into a vortex and veers into a grocery list.’
pring waltzes in with the vernal equinox tomorrow, but certain seasonal flowers have already sprung. Even a short, damp neighborhood walk reveals exuberant camellias, fluffy magnolias, bright daffodils and the pleasing punch-in-the-face scent of daphne odora.
On the Seattle University campus you can spot a giant specimen known as the “Seattle Tulip,” which was welcomed with a dedication ceremony on March 5. Featuring wavy green leaves and a bright red blossom, the 12-foot-tall enameled aluminum sculpture was created by Pop Artist Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004). You might recognize it.
The towering tulip was originally commissioned in 1988, by Wright Runstad & Company, to bloom outside their building at 999 Third Avenue (formerly Wells Fargo, currently the Docusign Tower). When the building was sold in 2019, the sculpture was dismantled and lay dormant — like a bulb — at Artech Fine Arts Storage in Renton. An anonymous group called “Friends of the Seattle Tulip” financed its return to the light, on the grass of the SU Union Green.
“Seattle Tulip” will serve as a sunny welcome to the $300 million collection (courtesy of local donor Richard Hedreen) slated for SU’s forthcoming museum of art, opening in late 2028. (Continued on Page 2 or here)
Each year on March 24, World TB Day is recognized globally to build public awareness around TB and recommit to ending the world’s deadliest infectious disease, which claims about 1.25 million lives annually. The date commemorates the 1882 discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the germ that causes TB, which at the time, killed 1 in 7 people in the United States and Europe.
No Kings protests in New Orleans, Kansas. October 2025.nd bring you on-the-ground protest coverage from all over the country.
No Kings protests in New Orleans, Kansas. October 2025.How to find The Contrarian No Kings coverageWe will livestream 3 times throughout the day on Saturday, March 28:
