Today we saw Sturgill Simpson and his band and then Gregg Allman and his band. This was all free from the public radio station, KCRW. It was an incredibly well-organized free concert with lots of parking, food trunks and clean portable toilets. The music was excellent and the acoustics were great. Gregg Allman’s voice was as…
Category: Flash essay
Tonight at the Foundation Room at House of Blues on Sunset Blvd.
Our friend, Monte Malone, invited Ray and me to come hear some of the new talent that he’s working with at A & R Worldwide. They were playing at the Foundation Room at the House of Blues. Here were the performers: This is a great venue to hear these acts. Here is a…
Full of Grace
There is a little girl at our church whose name is Grace. Her mom brings her periodically to the Breakfast Club, where we prepare a hardy and nutritious breakfast for anybody who comes through the door on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month. We usually feed anywhere between 100 to 200 people, who…
Skin and Scars
My skin is a conduit of memory. One soft touch takes me back to my sweet high school boyfriend, the first male to every caress me; one harsh squeeze reminds me of one of my college boyfriends, the only person who ever physically hurt me; one stroke on my back connects me to my mother…
An Unexpected Faux Pas
Many of you know that I wrote recently that my friend Peter is dying. What I didn’t tell you was what happened right after I found out about this news. The gist is this: My husband Ray withheld from me for two day the news of Peter’s terminal illness. I was working long hours with several students…
Hot Here in SoCal
Ray is sound asleep on the bed beside me. The dogs are asleep on the floor. William, the cat, is outside and, no doubt, busy hunting. We are in our only air-conditioned room in CA – our bedroom – with the air conditioner on along with the fan. It has been hot here by Southern…
Reprint from 2011: Thoughts on This 20 Minutes a Day Process
(I have a sore throat tonight and an ear ache so I pulled this piece from the first week of my blog in 2011. I think it is still relevant.) I have to admit that writing for 20 minutes a day – which ends up being around 40 once I edit – and then publishing…
Flagstaff
It is 10:49 pm and we have made it to Flagstaff. That is 15 hours of driving. Hopefully, that makes tomorrow a fairly easy day. That will depend on the 4th of July traffic going into LA. We already know that the traffic leaving LA will be horrific tomorrow afternoon. Do people actually go to…
Today’s Supreme Court Debacle
In 1968, there was an advertising campaign targeted at women with the slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” This particular ad was for cigarettes, but the implication was more widespread – that women were moving forward in their liberation from a male dominated world that dictated what they could and could not do. In…
Rachael: Back in CA
My daughter Rachael ended her year in Texas today. She flew back to LA to start her new job as nanny to her niece Luna for the year and to start a LSAT preparation course so she can apply to law school for entrance in 2015. This is a win-win for Rachael and for sister…
20 Minutes a Day 