I just completed teaching an online course for Story Circle Network entitled, “Writing the Personal Essay.” The course was five weeks long and each week the students were assigned reading material on a different type of essay, then required to write that type of essay by the end of the week. Just so that we…
Month: August 2012
Flash Essay: Organizing before School Starts
I have spent my day doing the task I like the least: pulling everything out of my junk drawers and stow-it cabinet in preparation for the upcoming school year. I teach privately at home and I have been using the buffet that’s in the picture for papers, books, receipts, and anything else that needs a…
Flash Essay: One Small Detail…
When I was in high school, Diana Felmet was my Home Economics sewing teacher. Mine and every other girl in the school since Home Ec was a required course and boys were not allowed to take it. (Oh, how the times have changed for the better!) Anyway, I learned to pick out patterns and…
Flash Essay: Hank III at House of Blues
We went to hear Hank III tonight, son of Hank, Jr. And grandson to Hank Williams. We are big fans of III’s, mainly his original country music, but also his “hellbilly” music. He has a distinctive voice, a tight band,and songwriting talent. I struck up a conversation before the show with a guy behind me….
Flash Essay: Summer Night at the Hollywood Bowl
Ray and I are at the Hollywood Bowl getting ready to hear the LA Phil. This is the summer venue for the orchestra and tonight is exactly why. The temperatures have cooled off and we are all sitting outside with hills all around, munching on food everyone has either bought or brought from home. People…
Flash Essay: A “Dream” in the Making
Today I helped our family friend Alvaro prepare his paperwork for President Obama’s “Deferred Action” for undocumented immigrants brought into the country as children. We sorted through transcripts, pay receipts, school ID cards, plus any other indication that he’d been continuously in the country for the past 5 years, and added these to a stack…
Flash Essay: Us and the Dogs, Who Owns Who?
The dogs are barking. Why? Probably someone is walking down the street, or else William has meowed, sending two sets of canine ears on high alert. Sammie, our little foster dog, has shifted from half-dead to full of life. She is leading the charge this evening, protecting us from the dangers of the neighborhood. Tail…
Flash Essay: Birds in Flight or The College Essay Writing Process
This is the beginning of college essay season, when students start composing that 500-word paper, which may be the deciding factor in their acceptance to a prestigious/hoped-for school. I have helped many with these essays for the past 13 years, and my students, I am proud to say, have been accepted to Princeton, Yale, University…
Flash Essay: To Roast or Not To Roast in LA
The heat has been bad here in LA. It is the topic of almost every conversation and people are flocking to the movies and to the beaches to escape. The rest of us sit in our homes, which for the most part are without air-conditioning, and sweat. It ain’t pretty. I am from Texas, a…
Flash Essay: Architecture and Renovation: A Natural Part of Our Lives
Today was busy. We left at 6:15 this morning to work at the homeless breakfast and returned at 6:30 tonight after spending the majority of the day in Pasadena. We were visiting with a friend there who is involved in several housing renovation projects and since we are also old house renovators, we were happy…
20 Minutes a Day 