My guest, Ellen Kuwana, started We Got This Seattle.org herself on March 13th. It was a bit accidental as her initial intent was just to gather some funds so she could donate a meal to the lab technicians and scientists at the UW Virology lab. Ellen’s background is in labs - she’ll tell you about it - but she wanted to do something simple to show gratitude to the people who were on the frontlines of the pandemic working around the clock to process the first Covid-19 tests. And as most genuine things do, her effort snowballed. Fast forward 6 months, Ellen has single-handedly raised over $75,000 and fed over 18,000 frontline healthcare workers mainly with the help of her daughter’s friends who are home from college.

Listen to Dan Felton from Assorted Goods and I grow a conscience while discussing all things Amazon.

Larkin Temme is the young principal of Holy Family Bilingual School in Whitecenter - just 10 miles south of Seattle.  We are separated by a short stretch of I-5, and a long stretch of socioeconomic circumstances.  The students at Holy Family are diverse, bilingual, and from backgrounds very different than the kids in NE Seattle.  I wanted to Ms. Temme educate me about how she’s pivoted her community to digital learning with no full-time Technology staff, how that was possible knowing that so many families don’t have basic internet access, and whether or not she’s concerned about this achievement gap created by internet based learning.  Spoiler alert - she is. 

I wanted to circle back with Dr. Drake after a couple of months to get her pulse check on Covid-19 and where we’ve arrived after two months sheltering in place. The week after our last interview, She co authored an op-ed that was published on the Hill.com.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/491693-now-is-the-time-for-a-national-public-health-reserve

The two epidemiologists outlined what I thought was a really smart plan to create a reserve army of Public Health care workers to begin contact tracing efforts and I wanted to know how the article landed.

I’m struggling to understand a lot of things as I know we all are, and as it turns out, so is Dr. Drake. Testing, going back to school, summer - all these things remain murky. So much is murky. I find myself wanting to talk to the person with the answers only to continue to realize there isn’t that person. They don’t exist.

I talk with Dr. Drake about my extreme level of confusion and how conflicted I feel about what’s happening. I know I’m not alone. Dr. Drake and I talk about fatigue - Zoom fatigue, home fatigue, all of it and this interview turns more personal. The bottom line is that we miss each other. We miss our life. This is difficult. But I always enjoy Dr. Drakes practical take on how to handle continued social distancing - I find her empowering and her advice is practical. I hope you take something away from our conversation.

The mission of Right in Front of My Face is to shed light on big things happening right in front of me. I want to contribute something in this pandemic, and what I feel like I can contribute is staying calm and finding facts. I put out a call on my personal Facebook page to ask if anyone knew an epidemiologist I could interview that might be able to shed some light on what we’re seeing and hearing in the news in Seattle. Within minutes, a good friend of mine connected me with her neighbor Alison Drake, PHd epidemiologist at the UW School of Public Health. While she’s not a Coronovirus expert, she’s an expert on the spread of disease. It was honestly incredibly refreshing to hear a woman take me through some data - clearly, we need more female voices in leadership but that's a whole other podcast.

In all seriousness, I think my husband put it best when he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever said ‘i don’t know’ more times in my life than I have in the last 2 weeks.” As grownups, we’re not accustomed to the answer eluding us, the future being unknown. This quarantine is a foreign land to most of us. I’m a true extrovert meaning when I’m around people it energizes me. To be isolated literally sucks my life force and I’m struggling more this week than last being away from my tribe and network. We are, all of us, desperate for an answer that no one has - when will schools open? When can I go back to work? Are my kids going to be ok? How do I talk to them? All these questions with no answer take a very real mental toll and many I’ve talked to are feeling it psychologically. I have no answers and neither does Alison. But what we do have is the ability to connect and learn. Alison generously answers all the clinical questions as best she can - I hope you can take something of comfort away from this conversation.

I first saw Dave Mampel at a 5 year old’s birthday party last summer. He was the entertainment - called himself Daffy Dave, and he mesmerized a group of kids in a way I’d never seen. He was magical, hilarious, and completely entertaining. And when I saw that he was teaching a magic class at a community center this winter, I immediately signed up my 8 year old son. I described Dave to a friend by saying he was the cool uncle we all wished we’d had - gentle, patient, and willing to show us the tricks. After the first class, I picked up my son and asked Dave how he got into clowning. He laughed and said, “oh man, that’s a story. In fact, I wrote a book about it!” His book is called Coyote Spirit and tells about his journey from ordained minister to professional clowngician. I sat down with Dave to talk about his book, his life, and overall perspective - Daffy Dave is a really deep dude.

If you lived or went to school in Seattle in the late 90's you may very well know my guest this week. Ronan O'Mahoney, one of the founders of the band, Left Hand Smoke, sat down with me to discuss the uncomfortable topic of anxiety. I wanted to get his take on this particular issue through his lens as a performer, but what came out of our time together was how anxiety has shaped his experience as a father and husband. This is a side Ronan himself has never shared - most people only know him as a performer. His vulnerability and humor shine through our discussion and it becomes clear why his music has so much heart. If anxiety is something you or a loved one experience, this is episode is dedicated to you.

Thank you to Left Hand Smoke for permission to use your music in this podcast! Now everyone please buy it or better, go see them live!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Left-Hand-Smoke-243501926742/

Ali was 40 by the time she'd met the love of her life and decided it was time for a baby. Like so many women before her, she struggled to carry a pregnancy full-term so visited the specialists at Seattle Reproductive Medicine to explore her options. She and her partner agreed to try a round of IVF, and this interview is Ali sharing her ride on the IVF roller coaster. Following her journey, Ali is now the Seattle Fertility Doula and hopes to help other women and couples through this sometimes confusing, emotional, and taxing process. Over the next hour, Ali shares her experience and insight - she is raw, hilarious, and empathetic to anyone who has experienced fertility issues and offers hope to those who may believe there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

If you'd like to connect with Ali her information is:

Instagram: @seattlefertilitydoula

Twitter: @DoulaSeattle

Meet Marjorie.  For years, Marjorie has been a staple at the Ballard Farmer's Market with her "Psychic Readings"  stand outside the Ballard Inn.  Marjorie's gift is real, and while I have received readings from her, this episode is not a reading.  For the next hour, Marjorie takes us through the journey of her life - she explains what it was like to grow up knowing things about people, and how she honed her gift and craft.  We talk all things existential, and about how learning to trust our own intuition can save your life.  She's also a  successful author, having self-published her fantasy series "The Boy With the Golden Eyes."  Please listen with an open mind and maybe start listening to signs around you in a whole new way.  

Meet Stevie.  Stevie is many things: a talented massage therapist, a yogi, and a mom-to-be.  She has also been a sugar baby.  According to Wikipedia, a sugar baby is "a person who receives cash, gifts or other financial and material benefits in exchange for company. It usually includes sex or intimacy."  Yep.  It sure does.  Stevie educates me all about how she got into sugaring, but also shares how her relationship with her Daddy changed her life.  Her story may change some assumptions you have about this alternative lifestyle, but what hopefully will open your mind is her openness and claiming of her experience.  Enjoy this story about how one woman's choices impacted her life in a positive way, and how she's moved on from her past.