My four dead siblings haunt me. Not in a bad way, please understand. It is as if they are always nearby, as if they are sprawled on the couch and chairs near me now, reading, laughing, talking to one another. They also sometimes talk to me, but usually not. I can see them in my…
Year: 2014
Some Wise Words
My husband Ray can be loud, funny, opinionated, and capable of driving me crazy on occasion, but he has a way of coming up with little gems that have a particular ring of truth. Today was an example. Today I said to him, “I don’t want to snap at you but sometimes I just can’t…
A Good Feeling on Several Counts
I am writing tonight after a very satisfying day. We had our annual neighborhood garage sale, which proved to be as much fun as it has been in years past. We started bright and early this morning (Ray and I were putting signs out at 6:30) and our first customers arrived exactly at 7 am….
Texas, Heat and Tomorrow’s Garage Sale
The fans are whirring, the windows are open, the doors are open, too, with the screen doors keeping out the mosquitoes that are surely in search of a nice juicy morsel of flesh. Ray is already upstairs in the bedroom in the air conditioning; I suspect he may already be sound asleep at 9:33 pm. The…
H & H in Texas in Summer
I am sitting in our Victorian in Texas, recovering from the combination of humidity, heat and excessive walking we have done today. We are still putting the finishing touches on the house across the street before it goes on the market – literally tomorrow – plus we have been preparing for a new renter who…
Texas
We are back in Texas. Flew in this afternoon and took the DART train from DFW to Plano where Rachael picked us up. Here are two photos taken from the DART train of Los Colinas, near DFW. The air felt like warm bath water when we arrived this afternoon. Luckily, this evening, a wind has…
An Ojai Mystery
I have been AWOL for the past several days. The gist is I was dead-dog tired and needed a break after working non-stop with my student on his 20 page paper, along with my online students, plus a daughter who needed some help on something she was writing, plus, plus, plus… So, we went up…
Tomorrow at Noon…
Lucien, Erasmus, Thomas More. I am learning a lot about these gentlemen along with the intricacies of Menippean satire since I have been helping one of my students from UCLA with a 20 minute presentation, a 7 page paper, and now a 20 page paper on these subjects. It is 12:35 and my student left…
One Door Closes
Sue wasn’t happy when the letter came. It surely was the usual bs. Nonstop complaints from her former boss/friend, Jessica, who would not/could not leave her in peace. Of course, the whole situation was complicated by that mutual piece of property they owned. Why in hell had she ever thought that was a good idea?…
At the Viper Room Tonight in LA
Tonight Ray and I went to the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard with Liz and Ron to hear several Australian bands that are currently on a “Passport Approved” tour headed up by two of our friends, Monte Malone and Ryan Benyo, who are music producers with A & R Worldwide, Musexpo. We know Monte and…
20 Minutes a Day 