Today I went to see Denzel Washington in the movie Flight. I went with a friend who liked the movie well enough to see it for a second time. I went in cold, meaning I knew almost nothing about the film save that Denzel surely was an airline pilot given his “look” on the movie…
Category: Writing as a Discipline
A Holiday Party
We just returned from our first holiday party. This was at Liz’s boyfriend Ron’s parents’ house in Hollywood. We had good food: chicken sausage lasagna and arugula and sun-dried tomato pizza and lots of good conversation. I only knew Ron, Liz, Rick and Cindy (Ron’s parents) when I arrived, but over the course of the…
The Calm of Ojai in Contrast to the Chaos of the School Shootings Today
Ray and I drove up to the orange grove in Ojai today to gather oranges for the holidays, and also to sort out furniture in our storage bins there to take to Texas for the 2nd floor turret room in Lyon House. We got up early and were on our way by 5:30 am. We…
“Christmas-Lite”
Here is our little Christmas tree here in CA. We are going “Christmas-Lite” this year, working to shift the focus from stress and spending to calm and sharing. We are limiting the amount of money for gifts with family and having a potluck with friends on Christmas Day. (This is after having an evening celebration…
Now I Am Really Finished!
You know when I said the Scholastic entries were all ready? Well, it turned out that they were not since one of my students ended up submitting five more entries. (This is a good thing.) However, between getting the Scholastic paper work done (read: ridiculous redundancies) and squeezing in a Fedex trip while working on…
Scholastic Submissions Ready!
It’s 11:47 pm and I am just finishing my Scholastic Artists and Writers submission packet for my students, grades 7 – 12. I will be sending this off tomorrow, right after one more student gets one more story to me before I head off to the FedEx office. I am happy to have this submission…
Submission Time for My Students to the Scholastic Artist and Writing Contest
Today I have spent much of my day working with students on their submissions for the Scholastic Artists and Writers contest, the oldest and most prestigious writing and art contest for youth 7 – 12 in the United States. This is something I do every year with my students and I have consistently had both…
A Guilty Pleasure
I have a confession to make – I love celebrity news. Yes, I must admit that one of my guilty pleasures is perusing the “Entertainment” section of AOL and looking at photos of Jennifer Garner and her two kids going to breakfast in Brentwood with her mother-in-law. Ye gods, I believe I am why the…
In Search of That Perfect Software…
I have spent the majority of today online, researching project management software tools. No, I don’t blame you if you just yawned. However, the truth is that I’ve been pretty jazzed at the idea that we could find a software program that would help us manage the myriad of details generated from the many projects…
Early, Early Flight and Life Back in LA
We’re back in LA after getting up at 3:15 this morning to make a 6:30 flight from Texas. The good news is the drive to Dallas was quick and easy given the hour; the bad news is that it is 8:20 pm LA time and I’m trying to keep my eyes open so I can…
20 Minutes a Day 