Aloha, tristesse **
This is a post I meant to write in early January. File under “sad synchronicity” and “strangers on a beach.” My family went to the Big Island in Hawaii for the week between Christmas and New Years. I was in a funk, as I often am at the holidays, raw and exhausted and not in […]
Some Places Where I Used To Live
(Yes, the title is a lame reference to the Gotye song of last year, Somebody That I Used to Know.) This year I’ve had the opportunity to visit two cities where I used to live. Last month I visited Boston when I attended the AWP conference. And right now I’m at an artists’ residency just […]
The house of the opposite of mirth
I’m just back from spring break vacation with my kids. As usual, it took nearly the entire trip (five days) to relax. But we had fun and much needed bonding time, free from the usual soundtrack to our familial relationships — do your homework; brush your teeth; brush your teeth NOW; hang up your swim […]
Amateur Night
Chain chain chain! Chain of fools. (Quoth the longtime fool.) I took this photo out of the moonroof of my car on Valentines Day, as my husband and I fought five minutes of traffic to go to our favorite Japanese restaurant. Normally traffic is about like this on Thursday nights at rush hour, but I […]
Exit the bubble
So I took this writing workshop early in January with David Hochman, writer extraordinaire, and fellow Vassar alum. And it was good. Inspiring. Delicious, because his wife Ruth Kennison, a real live pastry chef and chocolatier, made us incredible lunches and snacks. I left with some new writer friends and concrete ideas about how to […]
The Designated Celebrant: Confessions of a Holiday Hater
December 18, 2012: It’s a week before Christmas. Since we’re a mixed religion family and Hanukkah has passed, my kids have opened most of their holiday booty from my husband and me and the rest of the family. I tried to remain neutral about the holidays, waiting with no fixed expectations for joy, peace, wonder, […]
After the Newtown, Connecticut, Shooting
After Several Days of Rain Crisp December, just before noon Billowy white clouds defy gravity As wet red maple leaves whip windows and each other. A man with little red riding hood on his back Smiles at me, his George Clooney face mouths a small ‘thank you’ As I stop the car so he can […]
Expressing Motherhood show, September/October in Los Angeles
In January 2011 I had the honor of performing a personal essay I’d written in the Expressing Motherhood show in Los Angeles. I’m happy to announce that I will be performing again in the upcoming September and October Expressing Motherhood show. The Expressing Motherhood team has recently launched a blog featuring mothers and creativity, and […]
It was 15 years ago today
The following reminiscence is brought to you by my upcoming anniversary. I’ve just finished writing a draft of a memoir, including some drama from 1997, and remembering that it was (for me, in the end) a very good year: The artists’ residency is nearing the end. With horses and panoramic views outside my writing studio […]
Viva La Scene
This is a photo I snapped on a recent trip to New York. I was staying a few blocks away from the venerable Chelsea Hotel. At the time it seemed too cliché to photograph the Dylan Thomas plaque, but now I wish I had. Coincidentally, I was also reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, which […]
