The first time I saw Maddie Olson was at Orcas Center. It was midwinter of 2019, when we all needed to be transported to an idyllic Greek island for some fun. She was playing Ali in Mamma Mia!, and I could tell she loved life. Everyone in that play was loving life! Ever since then, every time I see her here and there, I get a smile on my face. I thought she’d be the perfect candidate for a list of 27 things (in no particular order)…
- I had a pet boa constrictor growing up. We got her from a former Denver Broncos cheerleader.
- My middle name is Kristia.
- I was 10 the first time I came to Orcas Island. My family stayed at Beach Haven. On the way home I told my mom that, “me and grandpa are going to live on Orcas Island” (as in, I was planning out my retirement or something). Ten years later, as a kayak guide at Camp Orkila, on my last day of my first trip, I realized that I had to come full circle, and ended up literally a half a mile away from the beach I had first visited.
- My favorite color is yellow.
- I recently found out that I just got my first cavity and I’m really upset about it.
- I’m pretty sure I’m related to Katie Bender and the Bloody Benders, a family of serial killers made famous in Western folklore.
- I am butter-forward. When I was a kid, I would get caught eating butter off the counter and I would blame the dog.
- My first concert was Sigur Rós in 5th grade. I went with my dad and we cried in the balcony.
- I was a volunteer at the Children’s Hospital in Colorado for five years. I ended up being the president on an advisory board my senior year of high school. I think that taught me a lot about myself and how to navigate the world.
- My favorite roles in order: Riff Raff in the Rocky Horror Picture Show (2019), the Emerald City Guard in The Wizard of Oz (2005), a stage kitten with Salish Sealesque Productions (catch our upcoming show June 24!), Mulan’s Dad in Mulan (definitely culturally insensitive, but I got to wear awesome facial hair—2007), Little Becky Two Shoes in Urinetown (2013).
- This year’s theme for Pride is SHARING GIFTS: Community Intersectionality (June 16). The “sharing gifts” part came from a children’s book I read to the elementary school about a talent show where a kid does ballet. It’s called John’s Turn by Mac Barnett.
- My friends and I got to perform “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men at Red Rocks during our high school graduation—two days after we saw the band play the same song on the same stage.
- I thought it would be physically impossible to touch my toes until I started practicing yoga in 2017. Turns out, it works.
- I threw a huge party with a bunch of nuns and priests on my golden birthday in a Jesuit Parish in rural Zambia.
- My dog is a rescue pup from the Friday Harbor animal shelter. I got her a year and a half ago after she was evacuated from a shelter in Hurricane Ida. When I was on the phone with the shelter, they said, “Well, we have this one dog you might be interested in; she’s tall, leggy, blonde, kind of goofy and really nice.” I thought, okay, I’m used to that life. Then they said, “Oh, and her name is Hula Hoop,” and I picked her up the next day.
- I have two older brothers. We are each two years apart, and I feel like that has a lot to do with my humor and resiliency. They’re both brilliant thinkers and artists.
- I’m planning on moving off-island at the end of June! Where to? Maybe Berlin for a little bit? Maybe San Francisco? I’ll keep you posted if you’re curious. I am also curious.
- I just got my astrological chart read for the first time. Turns out I have seven placements in Scorpio. Which is a lot considering that I thought I was a Sagittarius until I was 20.
- Orcas Island Pride was formed in 2019 after Laura Kussman and I had a conversation about how Orcas had never had a public pride fest and “that’s fucked.” Seventeen days later, we made it happen.
- My favorite animal has always been an elephant, but someone recently said that if I was an animal, I’d be a moose, and honestly, I can see that.
- Even though I am a school librarian, I’m not that big of a reader. My main goal throughout last year was to read one page a day, just to get back into the habit of picking up a book instead of my phone. I can now say that (along with being surrounded by books all the time) it worked! I’m reading again and it’s really cool.
- For as tall as I am (5’12”) I actually have a very small head and tiny feet. I have to buy child size hats.
To read the rest, go to my column on theOrcasonian by clicking here.
