by Irina VanPatten | May 5, 2019 | Uncategorized
SIFF is coming to Seattle again this year! From May 16th to June 9th 2019 it will be my favorite time of year, again! I say “again” because that will be my seventh year going to the festival, as a spectator and a fan. I watched this festival grow and mature during all...
by Irina VanPatten | Apr 21, 2019 | Uncategorized
My mother Katya and I were polar opposites. She was reserved and polite in public. I, on the other hand, never knew when to shut up. She was a glass half empty kind of person, a worry wart, always expecting the worst. I was more on the glass half full side. We...
by Irina VanPatten | Apr 10, 2019 | Badass Grandmas, Uncategorized
When Veronica Valdivia-Vera contacted me in response to my post about the series “Badass Grandmas” that I was putting together, I didn’t know that I would get two for the price of one. Both Veronica’s abuelas’ lives were so fascinating, that I couldn’t decide which...
by Irina VanPatten | Apr 10, 2019 | Badass Grandmas, Uncategorized
Kevin Judge, a coach and consultant, from the Canadian city of Ottawa, who coaches leadership and human resources for corporations, has the sweetest memories on his grandma Eva Pearl Moon. She taught him needlepoint and great values: how to be a good person, how to...
by Irina VanPatten | Mar 19, 2019 | Uncategorized
How to Train a TigerAngela walked around the class with her head up, back straightened, chest forward, blond bleached hair pulled back in a bun, bright red lips tight but ready for the bundle of wisdom, that were about to come out of her mouth.“This is not a job for...
by Irina VanPatten | Mar 12, 2019 | Uncategorized
My aunt was a battered woman. We knew this since we were little kids. Mostly, because she asked my father, her older brother, for help. My father was a soft-spoken man, but somehow, he found the right words to convince my uncle to behave like a man, without punching...
