I am knee-deep in submissions for my students to the Scholastic Artists and Writers contest, the oldest and most prestigious writing contest for youth in grades 7 – 12 in the U.S. It is almost 2 am and I have been steadily working for the past 6 hours. I have 10 kids with 20 submissions;…
Category: Los Angeles
The People in My Life
I took pictures today at the Breakfast Club, our church’s homeless breakfast program, and it occurred to me as I surveyed all the smiling faces of the volunteers just how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many good people. These fellow volunteers, with their devotion to good-hearted service, are only a few of the people…
Post Rain
We slept to the pitter-patter of raindrops last night and early this morning, such a peaceful sound. The air feels cleaner; the streets washed clean. My garden is thriving after such a slow soaking rain. It’s as if the whole city has been run through an automatic car wash, with all the dirt and grime…
Rain Coming Again So Soon
We have been preparing today for our second experience with rain in the past ten days. We had boxes from the estates we’ve been handling that needed to be moved to safety given that we’re not only expecting lots of rain, but also some high winds. It felt slightly odd to be scurrying about anticipating…
A Quick Note to Self
Dear Body, I promise to do better by you. I can see I need to eat more vegetables and fruits and move more. I am also aware that I could use more sleep as well as a bit more downtime. I plan to read online about foods that will help these bits of inflammation I’m…
Ready to Hit the Sack
I am sitting here tonight at 8:37 already ready to go to bed. In fact, I’m in bed, just not ready for bed yet. I still have to go downstairs, close the back door and turn off lights, then come upstairs and take a bath and brush my teeth. Ray and I have been out…
Flash Fiction: Hot Pink in the Synagogue
I was dressed in a completely inappropriate shade of pink and I didn’t care. In fact, all I really wanted to do march down the aisle of that synagogue and shout “hello” to as many people as possible while the Rabbi was praying. Yes, you guessed it. I was ticked off at Rabbi Coulter. He…
Nightcrawler: A Film to See
We just returned from seeing the film Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal. I can say without qualification that this is a must-see. You don’t have to take my word for it. This film has a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well. Jake Gyllenhaal, who lost 30 pounds for this film, is superb in his…
Quick and Easy Peach Cobbler
Here is a recipe I can highly recommend. I made this today and it is easy, easy, easy and also fairly quick. It is a modification on a peach cobbler using a can of crescent rolls as your lower and upper crust. Yum. It bakes up fast, too. Directions: Put 1/4 cup of honey into…
Moving Forward, Albeit Slowly
I am sitting with Elena. She just gave me a pep talk about never being discouraged about my writing. It is easy, however, to get discouraged. I write, write and write and then submit (there are not three submits here since I am not as good at submitting as I need to be), but then…
20 Minutes a Day 