Incognito Transit

King County Metro Coach Tier List

What’s up everybody? It’s dǰ pišpiš. I haven’t done a blog post in a while. That’s on me. I just haven’t had a chance to write anything with all the civic events and job searching going on. Today, I want to do a rider tier list for King County Metro coaches that are currently in service. As a rider with 13 years of experience riding public transport in most areas of King County, I feel very qualified to rate coaches according to their comfort, ease of interior detailing, and cool/innovative features. I’ll rate coaches in order of model year. All photographs are linked from the CPTDB wiki, and are the property of their respective owners. Let’s do this s***.

This song inspires me

Some of you know I’m a big fan of Maisey Rika, a Māori musician who in my opinion made some pretty timeless songs and music videos even to today’s standards. One of my favorite songs, “Letting Go”, has a montage where Maisey hitchhikes on a truck bound for Helensville, a rural Auckland area town. The CBD portion of the hitchhike reminded me of the CBD I saw while I was there in person 10 years later. So, I decided to investigate what streets the truck drove by while Maisey shot her music video. The only clue I gotten during this montage was the part where the truck passed by Hanover Finance adjacent to the Auckland Art Gallery, the former of which I later found is located at 2 Kitchener Street.

The term “protester” has lost all meaning

This week, Indian Country is up in arms about threats made against Seattle’s first—and only—Indigenous city council member Debora Juarez, Blackfeet. I want to say right away that I do not condone anyone going to someone else’s residence to harass or berate them. I hate that s***. I don’t think that—unless we’re talking about Jeff (Em)Bezos or some other privileged white person who has a whole couple of suburban blocks for themselves and a mansion—going to someone else’s house in the middle of the night for several nights to “protest” is going to be productive. But that stuff did happen. And I believe it creates tensions across BIPOC communities that are counterproductive to the goals of de-funding the police and re-appropriating taxpayer money for community social and health services.

Indigenous activists are roasting a local brewery

You may be asking, “Who is this person in the room? That can’t be Fa’aumu. Fa’aumu is cooler than this guy.” Don’t worry, folks. It’s me, Fa’aumu. And I use they/them pronouns.

Diseases. (Answer: What are five things white people do?)

Karen. Chad. Becky. If you follow social media, you should have no issue recognizing these archetypes of white folks who wreak havoc in public and cause problems for everyone around them. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I compiled a playlist of videos that provide a rich introduction to the very real but social phenomenon. Come stop by. I’d love to hear what you think.

A reasonable analogy for a COVID mask

Studies suggest that wearing masks can prevent people from spreading coronavirus (CDC 2020). In other words, masks don’t prevent people from getting coronavirus unless everyone else also wears one and follows the usual distancing and sanitation protocols.

The Last Stand IV: Putting the kibosh on a series that was never meant to be

When I wrote the original “Last Stand,” I never intended nor expected to have it stretch over a series of posts. But the series needs some closure before I put the kibosh on it. So, this will be the last time that I make a post about API Cares. This is the time where the fat lady sings, and all the wild geese are cut loose from my house. And for a fitting reason. Changes are on the way at API Cares. Because the changes are still in the works, there is nothing much I can say about them publicly at this time. As far as my understanding goes, I do have the ability to discuss specific changes in-depth with any Pacific Islander leader or mentor on a one-on-one basis. What I want to focus on today is what accountability to Pacific Islander communities means to me.

I am FN@UW’s hardcore Twitch spectator

Last night was a very special night on Twitch. Instead of watching the usual gaming, YouTube, and Just Chatting antics, I along with other FN@UW members got to watch fan favorite Delia Gomez spit poetry. The only issue: I am apparently FN@UW’s hardcore Twitch spectator who knew how to give shoutouts on the live chat. So I offered to let everyone pile on it with a big message. It was a fun night.

You can watch the 56-minute broadcast here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/677200786.

You can learn more about the Land Back event last night: https://www.facebook.com/events/602301884038519

I curated a playlist of Cr1TiKaL videos on Karens and white privilege

Karen became a hot topic in popular discourse since the coronavirus outbreak. But you have to remember: this stuff has been happening well before coronavirus. Therefore, I curated a playlist of Cr1TiKaL videos on Karens and white privilege. The coverage ranges from narcissistic YouTuber songs to the infamous Walmart outburst woman. From dǰ pišpiš to you, here is the playlist:

The Last Stand Part III: We’re on to you, API Cares

Last month, I wrote about the tokenization of Pacific Islanders at API Cares (a UW RSO) and offered my perspective on who’s actually doing the work of engaging Pacific Islander students in conversations on mental health and wellness. Joseph Seia, a well-respected Samoan community leader in south King County, created a stellar graphic that illustrates how allies can support Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.