Nathan Vass
Nathan Vass is an artist, filmmaker, photographer, and author by day, and a Metro bus driver by night, where his community-building work has been showcased on TED, NPR, The Seattle Times, KING 5 and landed him a spot on Seattle Magazine’s 2018 list of the 35 Most Influential People in Seattle. He has shown in over forty photography shows is also the director of nine films, six of which have shown at festivals, and one of which premiered at Henry Art Gallery. His book, The Lines That Make Us, is a Seattle bestseller and 2019 WA State Book Awards finalist.
This happened a looooong time ago, but it's a story I keep rattling around in my head, especially on these post-Ferguson nights.
"Hold on one sec," he said. Tall African-American man, I'd say thirty, six feet something with a baseball hat (curved bill tonight, not flat) and a wardrobe fitted...
"How you doin' tonight?"
"Typically!" he says. "And yourself?
"Oh, I'm well!"
"That's excellent!" he smiles. "And syntactically correct!"
"I do my best!"
That was the first guy. With him is a second man, his friend. Both have books. I ask the first fellow what he's reading, and it's a hefty sci-fi tome of...
I rushed in, looking for the cheap stuff. My shift (or "piece") was about to start, and I needed food. This was unusual. I usually bring lunch. There was the banh mi, the soy sauce noodles, here was the layout of sushi and bento... what was cheap? I resolved...
The NightWatch crew has just arrived. They have their tickets and directions, and are fanning out to the various shelters they've been assigned for the evening. "Next stop is Eighth Avenue," I tell them and everyone else. "By the library."
"I didn't know there was a library here!" one of...
There's a Samoan man in sharp leather who calls me "Center of the Universe." It's because I that's how I announce Third and Pike/Pine. Tonight, somewhere on Jackson, he launched into the following tirade, which I need to contextualize by saying it was yelled hoarsely by him with a...
He came up to me at 135th, scabrous and gristled. This was last Christmas Eve, on the 358.
"You give a good ride, man."
"Well, thanks, man. You got plans for the holiday?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna get off here, go over to KFC."
"Oh, right on."
"Yeah, gonna grab some dinner for my girlfriend....
Walker Percy once wrote that when the same event happens twice, one at one time and the other later on, we can define everything which has passed in between by whatever differences there are in those two events. There are faces you see, friends of yours, once every blue...
Recently on the 3/4, a young man in a red beanie, huge red sweatshirt, massive gray sweatpants, and oversized basketball shoes boarded with his girlfriend. He recognized me.
"Wha's UP, bro?" he hollered, as we bumped fists.
"Ey, good to see you!"
"Good to see you too! You're the cooles'!"
As they left...