The Stranger

I’m about as sportsphobic as they come, but even I can recognize awesome when I see it. Stranger literature Genius Sherman Alexie brings together two Washington State writers—short-story author Shann Ray and incredible novelist Jess Walter from Spokane—with young poet Natalie Diaz to talk about writing and basketball. Alexie and Walter play pickup games, and Diaz was an all-conference guard in college. Since this reading is taking place at a basketball court, they might even shoot hoops while talking about literature, which would certainly be something you’ve never seen before. (Connolly Center, Seattle University, 550 14th Ave, elliottbaybook.com, 7 pm, free) by Paul Constant

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Faster than a speeding Zamboni, hairier than a barber-shop floor, and more graceful than nothing, Dina Martina is the internationally beloved drag chanteuse/raconteur/train wreck created by the freshly minted Stranger Genius Grady West, and Dina Martina’s Christmas shows are a thing of wonder. Expect cheesy pop songs molested into nouveau Christmas carols (with live piano accompaniment by Chris Jeffries), jaw-dropping props, and laughing until your bladder explodes. (Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, rebarseattle.com, 8 pm, $20 adv/$25 DOS, 21+) by David Schmader

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Eleanor Antin is one of the odder humans. She’s a photography, video, installation, and performance artist, an inventor of personas. She was, for a time in the ’70s, a bearded King wandering Solana Beach near San Diego. Later, she was a Crimean War nurse and a black Ballets Russes ballerina. Her own life began in the radical politics of her Bronx Jewish family, with a Stalinist mother and socialist father. In today’s rare appearance at Seattle Art Museum, she’ll be enacting scenes from her that-couldn’t-possibly-be-true memoir, Conversations with Stalin. She’s brilliant and she’s 78 years old. (Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave, seattleartmuseum.org, 2–3 pm, $12) by Jen Graves

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Do you enjoy the vitamins and general salubriousness of fresh-squeezed orange juice? How about the effervescence and general loveliness of sparkling wine? What about when those two great tastes taste great together? Plus, oh, French toast topped with high-quality, super-delicious chicken nuggets and sausage gravy? Or eggs Benedict made with an English muffin from the Dahlia Bakery? Or a giant bowl of extra-tasty saimin? Yes? Then you will enjoy this: bottomless mimosas for $12 at brunch at Ma’ono in West Seattle. Happy napping! (Ma’ono, 4437 California Ave SW, 935-1075, 10 am–2 pm) by Bethany Jean Clement

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Ian Bell’s crowdsourced carnival of anonymity returns on a life-after-death theme. For the newcomers: Every three months, Seattle Confidential collects anonymous stories and gives them to actors to read. (Sometimes they add bells and whistles—PowerPoint presentations, charts and graphs, instant polls that the audience contributes to via text.) The confessional mode gives the writers a cloak to air their dirtiest, most hilariously awkward laundry, and everybody has a blast. It’s not only funny but comforting—we all have screwed-up stories, and laughing at them together feels therapeutic. (ACT, 700 Union St, acttheatre.org, 7:30 pm, $15) by Brendan Kiley

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It is time to talk about vaginas. We’ve just finished one of the ugliest anti-female elections since women’s suffrage became the law of the land, with Republicans arguing for rape and against basic women’s health programs. Wolf’s book Vagina: A New Biography examines the evolution and the biology of the organ that sends evangelical Christians across America into fits of fearful rage. America’s baked-in phallocentricity is a serious issue; we can overcome that kind of bias only by demystifying the body parts that have for millennia been hidden away behind walls of panic and hate. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, townhallseattle.org, 7:30 pm, $5) by Paul Constant

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