I made a big pot of black beans yesterday and I must say they were delicious. The recipe below is from the Food Network and is well worth trying if you want to switch up those pintos for something with a little more color and a slightly different taste. I ate these with red onion,…
Category: Writing as a Discipline
A Disconnect in Medical Education
My daughter, Sarah, submitted her applications yesterday for residencies in Family and Preventive Medicine. She wrote two separate personal statements – with my help as editor – for these two branches of medicine. Now she sits and waits and hopes that she will receive requests for interviews from these programs, most of which are in…
The Beach + An Old Friend = Happiness
Today I spent the afternoon and evening with my buddy, Judy HG. We had a serious “girls’ day out,” which, I might add, was exactly what I’ve needed after lots of work over the past while. We headed for the beach at Point Dune. Here are pictures of our glorious day at the beach: I…
One Way to Spend An Evening…
Well, I’ve waited until twenty minutes until midnight to write tonight. That means I truly only have 20 minutes to write if I plan to post before the clock strikes 12. Or maybe I better plan on 18 minutes, since it takes a few minutes to cut and paste and then add tags plus a…
9/11 – What We’ve Learned; What We Still Are Learning
On the morning of September 11, 2001, my husband and I were lying in bed before taking our kids to school when Ray turned on the television to watch the morning news. Suddenly, I heard him say, “Oh, my God!” I looked up to see footage of the first plane plowing into the first tower…
A “Homey” Writing Workshop
I have recently decided to expand my teaching of writing to include small groups for adults (I teach primarily one-on-one and online); so I am offering a writing class in my home for the first time. This will span 5 weeks and will be for 1 1/2 hours every Wednesday from September 25 – October…
Lessons I’ve Learned from Losing 4 Siblings
As some of you know, I am from a family with six children (seven, except my little brother, Robert Alexander, died shortly after birth). All my older siblings: my sister, Leslie (11 years older); and my brothers, John, 9 years older; Jim, 8 years older; and George, 3 years older; have died. The only sibling…
Back in LA, but So Tired
I am sitting here in LA with eyelids that will barely stay open. We woke up at 3:15 am to make a 6 am flight from DFW airport, which is an hour and fifteen minutes from Sherman. We flew to Phoenix, then on to Long Beach via US Air. I had students today so that’s…
The Outstanding Art in Fort Worth, Texas
For most people, Fort Worth, Texas doesn’t conjure up a picture of devoted art patrons who support not just one, but three world-class art museums. Billy Bob’s honky-tonk, yes; Championship rodeo, yes. But art? Actually, yes times three. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art at least has a western theme, so this excellent –…
Does Media Make Us Happy?
I recently saw an article that said that Facebook causes people to feel less content because they tend to compare their lives to others. Along that same vein, I was helping a student tonight work on a paper based on a book whose premise is that Americans have shifted from family-centered to society-centered primarily through…
20 Minutes a Day 