I have had a student here since 4 pm – she just left at 9. We are working through all the supplements that go with colleges she is applying to that have a January 1 deadline. Ouch. There are nine schools and they each have one to three supplements. That means many extra short essays…
Category: Flash essay
Happy News
My student Oona Oglesby received the word tonight that she has been accepted to Bard College based solely on the Bard Exam. The Bard Exam consists of four scholarly essays of no less than 2500 words in science, philosophy, literature and art. Hours of work to produce four thought-provoking essays, but clearly well worth the effort….
Home Alone Reflections
I am sitting in a very quiet house with my two dogs nearby, Cordie on the floor beside me and Frankie on the stool four feet away. Ray will return home tomorrow from a work trip to Texas; he is getting the condo in Fort Worth ready to sell. It is a week before Christmas….
Rachael is Back!
Congratulations to daughter Rachael who just completed her first semester at Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. Her last exam was yesterday and today she gets to feel relief from all that academic pressure. Hooray! I was searching for pictures of Rachael to add to this post and realized that there are very few…
A Happy Christmas Celebration Today at the Breakfast Club
Today we had our annual Christmas Bash at the Breakfast Club, which is the homeless breakfast served the second and fourth Saturdays of each month at St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood. Thanks go out to Brit Bjurstrom, Salvador Hernandez and Mark Frazier for working late and getting up early to create a holiday wonderland for…
A Celebration for Our Soon-to-Arrive Little Grandson
My little grandson who is still in utero was honored on Saturday night with a baby shower. Friends of Sarah and Gregorio’s gathered at their home for a “Sausage Fest.” Gregorio cooked lots of different types of sausages for the 40+ people who were there, most of whom were friends and coworkers. I had the…
The Big Country (1958) and Ray
Today Ray was not feeling well so we spent some time watching movies on television. The Big Country (1958) was one of those movies. It stars Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carrol Baker, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives. I have to say that Burl Ives commands this movie with his performance. I didn’t know until afterwards…
Sherman, Fort Worth and Daughter Sarah
It is 12:42 am here in Sherman, Texas – 10:42 Pacific Time – and we just arrived at our house here about 45 minutes ago. We worked in Fort Worth all day on the condo, got stuck in Fort Worth traffic on our way to Sherman in early evening, then arrived an hour and a…
Leaning-In Here in LA
As I ran errands around the neighborhood today I couldn’t help but note that everywhere I went – to Box Brothers for packing materials for eBay sales, Pavilions for a few groceries, BOA to deposit checks – that people were especially friendly. An older man at Box Brothers told me all about the exceptional clam…
Reflections on Growing Older
I am sometimes reminded I am an “older” woman. I look down at my hands and see they bear the evidence of my age. Good hands, still strong and able, but undeniable proof that I have chosen to live a life that includes physical labor along with my time spent on writing and with students. Hands…
20 Minutes a Day 