Today, Rachael, Luna and I traveled to the City of Orange to visit Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. This is the school that has offered Rachael a full scholarship. Neither of us had been to Chapman before so we didn’t know what to expect. The gist: the admissions officer knew exactly who Rachael…
Category: Writing as a Discipline
Mob Mind: Never the Answer
I am reflecting on the brutal beating death that occurred in India this past week, where a crowd of mostly uniformed students gathered in outrage over the rape of a young woman and several broke into the jail where the accused was being held, dragged him out to the street, stripped him naked, and beat…
Letter from Liberia
My friend, Dr. Kathryn Challoner, is currently in Liberia helping to fight the Ebola epidemic. Dr. Benedict Kolee is a Liberian physician (trained at USC under Dr. Challoner), who has been one of the key physicians on the ground during the entire epidemic. Here is the most recent letter from Kathryn and you will see…
One Poem from Billy Collins
I love Billy Collins’s poetry. Here is one of his poems below to just get you thinking about how it is possible to view other people and oneself using a different lens. I love several of these images, but most especially “the evening paper blowing down an alley” and “the moon in the trees.” See…
My Dad’s Comfort Food
When I was growing up, any time I didn’t feel well, my dad would make me milk toast. This consisted of toasted bread in a bowl covered in sugar with warm milk poured on top. This is pure comfort food for me. Safe, warm, mild. Reminders of my dad’s loving care. Tonight I arrived home…
The “High Life”
Ray and I have been finishing up work on a big estate in one of the high rises in the Wilshire Corridor near Westwood. The 24th-floor condo where we’ve been working has 3200 square feet, a view of the ocean and just sold for a little over 3 million dollars. It is located in one…
Thank You for Your Honesty
Thank you for all who responded to my post yesterday that focused on my reflections about my friend’s recent suicide, brought on by longstanding depression and anxiety. Your responses helped me to remember that if I am feeling something, others generally are, as well. Your thoughts also encourage me to write about tough subjects such…
A Reflection
I have been depressed, I will admit, over the events of this past week. The event, I mean, which is the suicide of my friend, Joseph, who was exactly my age. The difference in Joseph and me is that he had been suffering for years with major mood swings, and as a result had been on…
A Reminder for Living
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 King James Version 3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time…
Discovering “Sherlock”
Ray and I started watching the series “Sherlock” last night for the first time via Roku and Netflix. This is the British series that stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson. Though we are coming to the series late – it is apparently in its 4th season – the rest of…
20 Minutes a Day 