We Seattleites who are over the age of 15 all grew up with the Seattle Supersonics. And if you were a fan of the NBA and the Sonics (like me), not having a team anymore has left a gaping hole in those months that the Sonics would have otherwise filled … whether a good team or bad.

Every May, it seems, the Mariners are trying to figure out if they are going to be a .500 team or not. We patiently take another bite of that apple; after all, those are the Mariners that we love. The underdog. The “it-could-happen-maybe” factor.

In previous Aprils and Mays and sometimes Junes, we had basketball to ease the anxiety of a so-so start of a Mariners season. But these past five months of May, I have found myself trying to fill a void that not having the Sonics has created. Of course we can’t pull for some other NBA team. I have tried to find another team, but it doesn’t work. “Some other team” just ain’t the Sonics. I went to a Clippers game this season — the first NBA experience I’ve had since the Sonics left — and it felt so very weird. I tried to get into it, but in the end, it was just a hollow exercise in sports watching.

The following things have helped, in these laid-bare months, now that there is no NBA in Seattle:

1) Get More Involved With Your Kids. Ah, but my kids are in their teen years. Parent involvement is a contact sport with teens I am finding out, and not unlike trying to pry cement from a sidewalk with a crowbar.

2) Get Marriage Equality All Legal’d Up In Washington State. Check. Next?

3) Legalize Pot. Right. That too.

4) Find A Sonic-Crazy Billionaire Or Two To Bring A Team Back. Right. That too. No city will probably ever see something like we have experienced here in Seattle with Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer thus far. These guys are hell-bent on bringing our Sonics back.

5) Get Into The English Premiership. I’ve tried to get myself into soccer. In England and the rest of the world, they are crazy for it. I try and try again … but alas, it just isn’t the Sonics.

6) Have An NFL Team Go Deep Into The Playoffs. Go Hawks! You have lessened our pain of no NBA in this past year.

7) Cram More People Into The Seattle City Limits. Have you heard of these things called “APodments”? Yes, inside of some of our more congested areas, there is a sort of boarding house clause, an exemption that is now being pounced upon by area developers. Apartments are being built with a communal kitchen and small bedrooms that the leasor can rent to sub-leasers. An interesting idea for the city dweller, I suppose, but the jury is still out on how this will affect urban traffic that is already taxed to the hilt. See also, “micro-apartments.” It’s getting tight in here Seattle.

8) Help KEXP With Their Move Next Year. We are very lucky to have a station such as KEXP. The music and programs that they air is the true alternative. They have always had vision, and have always been a proponent of local music, while keeping the national and international artists involved. A money-raising venture will be underway soon, to help with their move to a new location in the Seattle Center. This non-profit is a local treasure. Get behind it!

9) Go To Shawn Kemp’s Restaurant Oskar’s Kitchen. Good food and bittersweet memories just a block from Key Arena. The feel of this restaurant is a mix between indie-Seattle and a sport’s bar. Kind of a perfect little joint for breakfast and more. Shawn does show up all of the time too. Get your Sonics fix!

10) Listen To The New Alice In Chains. They are Seattle rock at its best, and the new record is stunningly good. Period.

BRING OUR SONICS BACK!