Ray and I are in West Texas, sitting in our big gray van with Cordelia and Sammie (our Corgi and Scottie) at a dead stop on Interstate 20 West about five miles before the split to Interstate 10.  We have been sitting here for at least 20 minutes so far, as have 18 wheelers and…

Dear World, I have no idea where I’m going, but I fully expect whatever is coming will be good. I believe in the power of thought. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe in the power of people to make a positive difference, one person at a time. My father’s message to me…

I was saddened to hear the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s unexpected death today; it made it worse to learn that he died with a needle sticking in his arm. There is a part of me that thinks, “What has come of us as a society with so much drug addiction everywhere?” We have a…

Today, 11th grader Cameron Victor learned that she had won a Silver Key for short story writing for the Western region of the United States through the Scholastic Artists and Writers contest. The western region is comprised of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. This contest is the oldest and most prestigious…

I have just learned Michelle is safe. She is in the home of her aunt a good eight hours away from the man who took her to Guatemala. She is not pregnant. Her aunt, a first cousin and another family member traveled across Guatemala over the weekend and presented themselves en masse on the doorstep…

Grace Chesterfield lay curled up on the overstuffed couch in her father’s office on Wall Street reading under the light of the green and red stained-glass dragonfly lamp. She snuggled under a cashmere throw, reading Wuthering Heights and dreaming of Heathcliff. The comforting clicking of the stock ticker on its handsome mahogany stand kept lulling…

My niece, Katie Leatherwood, and her boyfriend, Nowell, are visiting this week. This is a treat for me since we don’t get lots of Texas visitors out here in LA. They are off right now at the Comedy Store watching Tim Allen do a show. This is after spending most of the day at the…