I almost missed this fortnight’s blog… for the best reason. I spent the weekend in Sarasota, Florida, watching my younger daughter get her BA in Sociology. It was pretty swell. When your campus fronts on the bay, you hold your … Continue reading
I have on occasion contributed a series to this blog called “Raised in a Barn.” It is a loose series of anecdotes about my, um, colorful childhood, spent between Greenwich Village (in the 1960s) and the converted barn in rural … Continue reading
I remember the Big Three of Childhood Diseases because I had all of them. I am of that vintage where I was young enough to be vaccinated against smallpox and polio (for which I am abundantly grateful, let me tell … Continue reading
This photo was taken when Emily, the household dog, was a spry young animal of four or five: she is vigilantly looking out on our street, watching for skateboarders or other dogs. Skateboarders are her particular abhorrence. These days Em … Continue reading
Let’s say you have a child, and if you’re lucky enough that she arrives with all the correct bits and pieces–spleen and fingernails and skeletal system–you feel a little like you’ve won a lottery. Maybe it turns out that the … Continue reading
That’s Blanche DuBois, above (Vivien Leigh) talking about the way she gets through life. In her case, there’s a sort of learned-helpless dependency thing going on. But really, in a civil society, in a kind society, we all depend upon … Continue reading
I really am a simple soul. In December I was given a Fitbit for my birthday. I love it. I may, in fact, have gone a little off the deep end about it. It’s a little bit like a tamagotchi … Continue reading
Two years ago I went to see my daughter and her sweetie performing at the Dickens Fair, where they have been part of the scum contingent for eight years. On Sunday mornings the Beau, in his character as the Reverend … Continue reading
There’s a toy I remember from when I was very small, with a ad that sometimes resurfaces from the depths and starts ear-worming me. The toy, Odd Ogg, was… well, kind of stupid. You bowled plastic balls at Odd Ogg … Continue reading
I sometimes wonder if I’ve done a dreadful, dreadful thing in raising my children to love many of the movies that my husband and I love. My younger daughter famously went to school one day in 3rd grade, talking enthusiastically … Continue reading
