Today our sweet Sammie, our Scottish terrier who has been ailing for a while, died peacefully on our back patio. Ray, Cordelia (our Corgi) and I were there with her as she slipped away. Cordelia licked Sammie’s eyes and her mouth, and then started barking. She looked at us as if to say, “Do something!” We…
Category: Flash essay
Stories of the Heart Conference in Austin in April!
Dear Len, I’m delighted to let you know that the Program Committee for next year’s conference has selected both your proposals, The Fun and Liberating World of Flash Fiction/Memoir and Transforming Your Writing Life in Just 20 Minutes a Day, for presentation. I speak for the Conference co-chairs, Peggy Moody and Jeanne Guy, as well…
Happy Birthday Eve, Brother Sam!
Tomorrow is my brother Sam’s birthday and I’ll just like to give him a shout out from CA to Texas or Ohio or Tennessee, wherever he may be tonight. My little brother is five years my junior and he has a musical streak that surpasses that of most mortal beings. He started pounding on a…
Sad News from the Breakfast Club
Some of you may recall that I wrote a few months back about an eighty-five year old woman – one of our Breakfast Club patrons – who I discovered was living in a West Hollywood park. Her name was Pat and she had come for years to the Breakfast Club, though for most of that…
My “Day of the Dead” Altar
Tonight was the Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) art exhibit at Barnsdall Art Center. I agreed to take part since my ceramics teacher suggested they needed people to build an altar for a loved one. I figured I had quite a few loved ones to pick from, after all. So, over the…
A Glimpse at My Day
I am back in Ojai today with Ray and our friend, Darrah, from Texas. Organizing, cleaning, and also working on some furniture. The weather was clear with a nice breeze. This is all outside work so the weather matters. We are lucky to have had such pleasant temperatures while we tackle these tasks. Tomorrow morning…
Picasso’s Guernica: What I Learned Today
Hi folks, I am back in LA to work with students. Today I worked with one student on taking a critical look at Picasso’s Guernica. This was painted in response to the Fascists’ relentless bombing of the Basque town of Guernica, which had 5,000 people. The bombing lasted several hours and 22 tons of bombs…
Working at the Orange Grove
We have just completed a satisfying day of work here at the orange grove. We will be hard at it again tomorrow. We are organizing, working on estate furniture, and basically tackling lots of estate-related work for the next few days. We meaning Ray, Darrah (our friend from Texas) and I plus our helper, Gregorio,…
Sitting in the Dark at the Orange Grove
I am sitting in my car at the orange grove stealing WiFi from my Ojai neighbor (she knows that I do this and is okay with it). It is almost ten at night. It is DARK here. I wish I could take a picture to let you see just how dark it is. Probably not…
The Martian: Well Worth Seeing!
We just returned from seeing The Martian in 3D. I must say this was an especially entertaining movie. Matt Damon carries this movie completely and does so aptly, which is quite a compliment since he is alone for a good portion of the movie. The supporting cast is strong, the science fascinating, the look at…
20 Minutes a Day 