Michael Grass
@mgrass.bsky.social
WA via DC, NYC and MI | Assistant director for communications at @cip.uw.edu | Former journalist | Car-free living | 🚎 🚇 🏊♂️ ✍️ 🌲🗺
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
For anyone in need of two owls chilling on a tree branch, here you go ...
June 21, 2025 at 1:50 AM
For anyone in need of two owls chilling on a tree branch, here you go ...
As a kid, I used to memorize maps and for whatever reason, those mapbrain memories have stuck with me where generally I eschew app-based turn-by-turn navigation.
Here's a handdrawn map I drew from memory around 2017/18 of every road trip I had been on to date.
Here's a handdrawn map I drew from memory around 2017/18 of every road trip I had been on to date.
June 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
As a kid, I used to memorize maps and for whatever reason, those mapbrain memories have stuck with me where generally I eschew app-based turn-by-turn navigation.
Here's a handdrawn map I drew from memory around 2017/18 of every road trip I had been on to date.
Here's a handdrawn map I drew from memory around 2017/18 of every road trip I had been on to date.
Rapid Central Station is a decently nice downtown transit hub, though it's located on the edge of central business district on the other side of the US 131 S-Curve viaduct, which limits ease of walkability. The downtown DASH shuttles can be handy, though walking distances aren't necessarily far.
June 1, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Rapid Central Station is a decently nice downtown transit hub, though it's located on the edge of central business district on the other side of the US 131 S-Curve viaduct, which limits ease of walkability. The downtown DASH shuttles can be handy, though walking distances aren't necessarily far.
I rode around on the bus, aka The Rapid, a bit, which was pretty straightforward and convenient. There are 2 BRT lines. My mom picked me up at a suburban mall because she moved out to a place 2 miles from the nearest bus stop in exurban Stroad-land. 🙃 (I grew up in a very walkable neighborhood.)
June 1, 2025 at 12:48 AM
I rode around on the bus, aka The Rapid, a bit, which was pretty straightforward and convenient. There are 2 BRT lines. My mom picked me up at a suburban mall because she moved out to a place 2 miles from the nearest bus stop in exurban Stroad-land. 🙃 (I grew up in a very walkable neighborhood.)
Although the metro area is very car centric, I've enjoyed the walkability of downtown Grand Rapids and neighborhoods along the former streetcar lines. There's been a lot of interesting adaptive reuse of brownfield sites and in-fill development in the past ~25 years.
June 1, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Although the metro area is very car centric, I've enjoyed the walkability of downtown Grand Rapids and neighborhoods along the former streetcar lines. There's been a lot of interesting adaptive reuse of brownfield sites and in-fill development in the past ~25 years.
Although @traffic.wsdot.wa.gov doesn't spotlight Ski to Sea in Whatcom County on their Mem'l Day Weekend map, remember you can take transit to Fairhaven in Bellingham where the finish line is! Skip the parking headaches and use WTA Route 1 or 14 instead! Here's my hand-drawn map:
May 23, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Although @traffic.wsdot.wa.gov doesn't spotlight Ski to Sea in Whatcom County on their Mem'l Day Weekend map, remember you can take transit to Fairhaven in Bellingham where the finish line is! Skip the parking headaches and use WTA Route 1 or 14 instead! Here's my hand-drawn map:
C'mon @nytimes.com, you do know PATH's Hoboken Station is part of the Port Authortity, not New Jersey Transit, right?
May 18, 2025 at 10:58 PM
C'mon @nytimes.com, you do know PATH's Hoboken Station is part of the Port Authortity, not New Jersey Transit, right?
Good evening, Chicago!
May 15, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Good evening, Chicago!
Our sweet cat recently ran off with an unattended plastic bag containing marinating pork chops, dragging it out of the kitchen and into this box in the living room.
May 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Our sweet cat recently ran off with an unattended plastic bag containing marinating pork chops, dragging it out of the kitchen and into this box in the living room.
For those in need of cat distractions amid Sunday doomscrolling ...
April 28, 2025 at 1:30 AM
For those in need of cat distractions amid Sunday doomscrolling ...
April 16, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Hello from Tacoma. The mountain is out!
April 15, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Hello from Tacoma. The mountain is out!
It's great to see Bellinghamsters pack onto WTA buses for Saturday's downtown protests. Hopefully, it'll will make locals realize they can use #transit to go to/from downtown on days when there aren't protests.
#BellinghamWA
#BellinghamWA
April 5, 2025 at 9:27 PM
It's great to see Bellinghamsters pack onto WTA buses for Saturday's downtown protests. Hopefully, it'll will make locals realize they can use #transit to go to/from downtown on days when there aren't protests.
#BellinghamWA
#BellinghamWA
Sidewalk hazards from a post-dinner stroll in #BellinghamWA.
April 1, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Sidewalk hazards from a post-dinner stroll in #BellinghamWA.
The lowest stress way to enjoy the cherry blossoms at the University of Washington in #Seattle is to use transit to reach campus and avoid a 45-60 minute adventure to find parking.
March 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The lowest stress way to enjoy the cherry blossoms at the University of Washington in #Seattle is to use transit to reach campus and avoid a 45-60 minute adventure to find parking.
Update on the nesting hummingbird: Still nesting and doing fine a day after the wicked storm that rolled through #BellinghamWA.
March 28, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Update on the nesting hummingbird: Still nesting and doing fine a day after the wicked storm that rolled through #BellinghamWA.
This nesting hummingbird along Padden Creek in #BellinghamWA was fairly chill with me observing but eventually escorted me out of its vicinity.
March 26, 2025 at 12:28 AM
This nesting hummingbird along Padden Creek in #BellinghamWA was fairly chill with me observing but eventually escorted me out of its vicinity.
At the @cip.uw.edu, we're hosting more than 500 WA high school students, teachers and librarians on the campus of UW Seattle for our annual MisinfoDay educational workshop.
March 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
At the @cip.uw.edu, we're hosting more than 500 WA high school students, teachers and librarians on the campus of UW Seattle for our annual MisinfoDay educational workshop.
March 17, 2025 at 3:17 AM
A college newspaper colleague sent me a photo of a hand-drawn map I drew circa 1999 for Michigan Daily sports staffers to go from Ann Arbor to State College on a reporting trip.
March 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
A college newspaper colleague sent me a photo of a hand-drawn map I drew circa 1999 for Michigan Daily sports staffers to go from Ann Arbor to State College on a reporting trip.
Post-sunset views looking out from South Hill, #BellinghamWA, out toward Lummi Island.
March 7, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Post-sunset views looking out from South Hill, #BellinghamWA, out toward Lummi Island.
Nice! I have that Fortune magazine edition cover framed somewhere in a closet somewhere but have the pull-out map from that issue in my home office.
March 4, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Nice! I have that Fortune magazine edition cover framed somewhere in a closet somewhere but have the pull-out map from that issue in my home office.
My cat enjoys looking out on the world while having the option to roll back under the covers.
February 16, 2025 at 5:49 PM
My cat enjoys looking out on the world while having the option to roll back under the covers.