A Moment Changes Everything

A Moment Changes Everything

Posted by on May 6, 2017 in All, Family, Los Angeles, Personal, Politics, Writing | 2 Comments

I had the privilege of being in the Spark Off Rose storytelling show again last month, telling a story on the theme “A Moment Changes Everything.” Spark Off Rose is one of my favorite shows because of the care the producers take in choosing themes and stories and shaping them with writers. The monthly show […]

Speak, MFA

Speak, MFA

Posted by on Nov 25, 2015 in All, Personal, Quotidian, Writing | One Comment

There were so many blog posts* and other bits of writing I half-wrote in my head this year and the year before, as I went running in the morning or drove children to school or doctor or dentist appointments. Sometimes at times like that, my head is blissfully clear, and everything makes so much sense. […]

My Father’s Bones

My Father’s Bones

                                                    A couple of weeks ago, Lea Thau, founder and producer of the KCRW radio storytelling show “Strangers” interviewed me. It was a remarkable experience, and I enjoyed talking with […]

LLAP

LLAP

A few days ago, beloved actor Leonard Nimoy passed away at age 83 after being ill with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Internet was awash in memories and sadness. I was busy all day but noticed the outpouring on social media. He meant a lot to me, as he did to many science fiction loving […]

More tenderness

Posted by on Mar 3, 2015 in All, Family, Personal, Quotidian, Writing | 3 Comments

I’ve woefully neglected this blog, and I’m beyond feeling bad about it. There are reasons. Among them: 1) I’m writing other things. Okay, I’m not writing that much, but I’m thinking about writing other things. 2) I’m re-building my reading habit, which suffered grave injuries in college and graduate school (all those gigantic, dry as […]

Feet and the maiden

Some years I am so weighted down and distracted by my workaday life that I have a hard time locating some authentic, profound feelings of gratitude around the holidays. This year, the news helped me locate some of these sentiments. Happy Thanksgiving, readers. As I slipped on my shoes and left the house the other […]

Motherhood, Smotherhood: a hilarious book on the sometimes non-hilarious world of parenting

Posted by on Oct 16, 2014 in Family, Media, Uncategorized, Writing | No Comments

Motherhood Smotherhood by J.J. Keith My rating: 5 of 5 stars I enjoyed this book immensely and wish it had been around when I had my first child many years ago. It might have saved me from many lost hours I can never get back reading and listening to a lot of judgmental, absolutist BS […]

Supernatural: an intergenerational tale

Recently I found a link to audio from the first storytelling show that I participated in, the Spark Off Rose show from October 2010. The theme was “Supernatural,” and most of us told ghost stories of one kind or another. I read a story from the memoir manuscript I’ve been working on, about the few […]

The empty cart

The empty cart

Late January 2014 For the last several months I have been mentally flagellating myself, trying to declutter my garage. My husband, kids, and I moved into this house over three years ago, and the unpacking process was a never-ending Hydra of paper, housewares, and detritus from grad school and earlier. I claimed that I’d finished […]

Finding Grateful, 2013 edition

Finding Grateful, 2013 edition

  If you know me in real life or have read my blog at the end of the year in the past, you will know that I am a self-identified holiday hater. I’m not proud of that, but why pretend otherwise? To sum it up, the gradual loathing came about as a result of the […]