We have made it to our Texas home. Finally. We arrived at 1:15 am, after having driven since 7:45 am. Except for gas and a few dog pit stops, the only time we weren’t in the car was in Albuquerque for lunch at around 3 pm. We passed the time today listening to NPR and…
Category: Timed Writing
Travels East
We are en route by car to Texas for business. Left LA at 5:15 pm and are now in Williams, AZ (the turn off 40 for the Grand Canyon). We arrived around 1 am. I missed my blog deadline for the 27th, but here I am early on the 28th. Ray and the dogs are…
A Poetry Book That Pulls You In and Teaches You History
My daughter Rachael has introduced me to a book of poems from her poetry class at UCLA entitled Blue-Tail Fly by Vievee Francis. This is a wonderful volume of persona poems written in the voices of either real people or composites of people living from the pre-Mexican American War through the post-Civil War era. This book…
The Santa Ana Winds Are Here
The wind is rustling the leaves in the tree outside my back door; I can see the Nandina bushes bending and shaking through the front window. The Santa Ana winds have been blowing since yesterday, sending the pollution out to sea and making the LA air smell cleaner. Unfortunately, because the winds are dry, they…
A Modest Plan
Today I took the dogs for a walk. This is noteworthy only because it is so rare. We have a backyard and leave the back door open, so the dogs go in and out. This is fine for bathroom needs, but doesn’t solve the exercise issue. Cordelia, our corgi, really must have exercise or she…
A Mother’s Dream: Time with Her Grown-up Daughters
Liz, Sarah, and Rachael I am having an occasion that is happy for a mother – I am seeing my three daughters almost daily at least for the next little while. Sarah has a clinical rotation that is only four blocks away at an Urgent Care Center; Liz is here everyday from 6:30 – 8…
Frankenweenie – Not What I Expected
We went this afternoon to see Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, a movie I’ve been looking forward to seeing. Alas, I must say that I was disappointed. The film is in black and white to begin with, and I immediately longed for color. Second, though I liked the main character and his dog, Sparkie, I didn’t like…
A Movie Well Worth Seeing: The Sessions
We have just come home from seeing the film The Sessions starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy. This is a movie about a man who is severely disabled from polio making the decision that it is time to explore his sexuality. Helen Hunt plays a sex surrogate, Hawkes plays the disabled man,…
100 Things that I Love (With no effort to include everything and in no particular order)
1) Trader Joe’s Market 2) Homemade frozen strawberry yogurt 3) Cinnamon rolls 4) Comfortable shoes 5) A firm bed 6) A warm bath 7) Swimming underwater 8) The sun on a cool day 9) The night sky 10) Camping 11) Hot chocolate 12) Project Runway 13) Choral music 14) Bach 15) Art Museums 16) My…
Hamburger Mary’s on a Thursday Night
I just walked through West Hollywood after being at Hamburger Mary’s where we went with friends for a Trivial Pursuit night, plus 1/2 of a drag show. I left before Ray and our friends because I need to get up early tomorrow morning to go with Liz all the way out to Rancho Cucamonga so…
20 Minutes a Day 