About/Archives

People in the U.S. tend to identify themselves first by their work, when that's (ideally) only part of who we are.

I'll get to that work business, but first, I'll lay out my many other influences, roles, and passions, all of which inspire and inform my blog posts (when I get around to writing them).
  • parent (step for 2) to 4 great young adults in their 20s and 30s and former stepmom to 2 more; 
  • wife and partner to the great love of my life, @EricRacesBikes (who veeerrry sporadically used to write a bike training/racing blog and now is more interested in his radio-controlled flying hobby and training for a someday attempt at the Pacific Coast Bike Race); 
  • someone who fundamentally believes that the world is a better place when we treat each other first and foremost as human beings with unique and multiple identities (instead of as ideologies or forms of transportation or any other label) and apply big doses of kindness, humor, and reasonably good manners, along with a reminder of what happens when we assume;
  • bike commuter even in the rain and cold because riding makes me so much happier than not riding, rider of transit when the bike needs a boost, driver as seldom as possible, train + bike traveler whenever the opportunity presents itself, occasional traveler by air with a folding bike, walker;
  • good cook of dessert-ish treats and vegetarian/vegan comfort food, voracious reader (historical novels, literary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, nonfiction on interesting slices of thought and time, and a surprisingly large number of works having to do with the zombie apocalypse), lover of movies, knitter, occasional game player with my family when I can get enough of them rounded up and sat down (Pente, Parcheesi, Bananagrams, Settlers of Catan, Tsuro, Monopoly, others);
  • @BarbChamberlain on Twitter; Where I used to share the most content/information, most of it about transportation, although it's declined in utility and I'm not there as often now;
  • Mastodon @BarbChamberlain@toot.community: Started in late 2022 and I don't yet really know how I'm going to be present in that space; checking it out since Twitter is melting down thanks to the pouty billionaire who bought it and can't stand criticism;
  • LinkedIn: I don't accept invitations to connect from people I haven't actually worked with in some way; you're welcome to read my resume!
  • Facebook: I don't accept friend invitations with very rare exceptions; you're welcome to follow my profile to see the things I post publicly, which is apt to include links to blog posts, recipes, and an occasional article or poem I want to share;
  • writer at Bike Style Life, where you'll find my bike writing on everything from policy to the quest for the perfect pants for bicycling, Twitter @BikeStyleLife and Facebook although to be honest I don't remember to post in the blog name very often;
  • founder of the Women Bike Blogs list. finding and highlighting links to blogs by biking women from around the world on Twitter as @WomenBikeBlogs and on the Facebook page (similarly neglected);
  • resident of Olympia as of September 2020, which followed the "Seattle era" August 2012-November 2017 after many years in Spokane and Idaho before that and back and forth Washington/Idaho;
  • as of March 1, 2017, the first Director of a newly created Active Transportation in the Washington State Dept. of Transportation (not so new any more);
  • which followed serving as a leader in bike advocacy, first as Executive Director of Washington Bikes, then as Chief Strategic Officer of Washington Bikes and Cascade Bicycle Club after leading us into this merger to create the nation's largest bicycle nonprofit; 
  • before that, a director of communications and public affairs in higher education for many years at WSU Spokane;
  • before that, the youngest woman ever elected to the Idaho House and Senate (going waaaay back);
  • and even before THAT, I worked at a regional history publishing firm and helped put out two of Washington state's official Centennial publications;
  • and when asked to describe my career in six words I captured it with this: Always doing work I believe in.
Herewith, a reverse chronological list of posts on this blog, on my bike/transportation-focused blog Bike Style, a few from the WSDOT blog now that I work there, plenty from the Washington Bikes blog over the years I worked there, and guest posts elsewhere. Check out the other page tabs on the blog if you want to find posts by topic.

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