Here is the growing list of final college choices for several of my writing students.  Congratulations to you all.  What an absolute pleasure to work with each of you! William Lancaster, NYU, Tisch School of the Arts Alexa Nourafchan – University of Pennsylvania Eli Aminpour, UCLA Lily Massee, Sarah Lawrence Josh Fouladian, UCLA Alyssa Hance,…

Today is my mother’s birthday.  She was born in 1918 and died in 2000.  Here are a few things that come to mind to commemorate her day. My mother: Earned a Ph.D. in Psychology at age 53 and then went on to practice and teach until she was 82. Was married for 32 years to…

We have been driving since 6:30 this morning. It is now 10:55 pm. We have another hour to go before we arrive at our Texas home. We started yesterday at two pm. We had planned to leave at noon, which would have sped up getting out of LA. As it was, we added another hour…

11:05 pm Just arrived in Williams, AZ.  Windy and cold outside.  Too chilly for the shorts I was wearing while walking the dogs. Resting up for an early morning drive eastward. Ray and the dogs are already asleep. I better join them since I’m the primary driver.  We need me rested for this long trek….

Today I was Master of Ceremonies at the 10:30 Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood, which means that I was responsible for making sure that everything and everybody (acolytes and clergy) were where they were supposed to be during the service.  This is the hardest position as an acolyte because you have to know…

Our grandkids are visiting.  Here we are in the backyard for some play time and then on a walk around the block with the dogs.  Nico had to take a rest on the walk.  I guess those little 15-month-old legs get a little tired always running and climbing. It occurred to me today that I…

Ray and I are up in Ojai for the night. We have some work to attend to here tomorrow so it will be nice to wake up surrounded by oranges trees.  The dogs are with us. They, of course, think it is a grand idea that we are here.  The sky is clear tonight and…

We (Ray, Liz, Ron and I) picked Rachael up at the airport tonight after her flight from Miami and went to Dinah’s Family Restaurant, located at 6521 Sepulveda Boulevard. This is a LA googie landmark, along with Pann’s Restaurant, and for those of you who watched The Big Lebowski, this is the diner that is featured in…

Dear Rachael, Tomorrow’s your birthday and since you’ll be traveling all day from Miami, I want to take the chance now to wish you the very best birthday ever.  Here are a few things (in no particular order) that I’ve enjoyed about you over this past quarter of a century together: Your excellent sense of humor…

Ray and I attended the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday night and also Easter Day Sunday Mass today.  Plus, we had our kids (minus Rachael who is in Miami) and grandkids over this afternoon for an Easter celebration and meal.  Luna and Nico were running a temperature this morning so they weren’t able to come…