For me, one of the blessings of being officially retired is the freedom to follow my bliss, as Joseph Campbell recommends. Today I’ll be following it away from my computer and out into my garden. The sky is brighter and bluer than it’s been in many a day. Across the lake, I hear the joyous… [Read More]
Tripping to Milwaukee for a high school reunion
I’m off to Milwaukee for my 50th high school reunion. It’s almost midnight and I haven’t started packing yet! Need to leave the house by 8am to catch a flight out of Albany. My last trip to Wisconsin, twelve years ago, was excruciatingly painful. I developed trigeminal neuralgia, maybe from clogged ears on the plane followed… [Read More]
Editing Excellence – Remembering My Father
“As a journalist in a newsroom, I never worried about how to write. I just did it. I put words on my computer screen to meet a deadline.” These words from Alexis Grant jumped out at me this morning. I’d left her blog up on my screen when I turned off the monitor late last… [Read More]
Norman Mailer admired my chest – because I was wearing my book cover!
Commenting on my post about blatant self-promotion, Marvin D. Wilson advised me to “let it all hang out” when it comes to hyping my books. The phrase brought back a treasured memory from 2007 – the night Norman Mailer gave me a beatific grin while he ogled my chest. Mailer was at the New York… [Read More]
In memory of dogs loved and lost
This morning my daughter’s dog Sequoia died peacefully at the vet’s office in Woodstock. A black chow mix, Sequoia had been Stacey’s devoted companion for 16 years. The dog had been abandoned, tied for hours to a fence post in Tompkins Square Park in New York’s East Village when Stacey rescued her, and they’ve been together… [Read More]
Mac Attack – Laptop Seduction at the Mall
“The men don’t know, but the little girls understand.” So sang Jim Morrison of The Doors in the song “Backdoor Man.” I’m not a little girl, but I believe men don’t understand the rush that overtakes women – or at least this woman – when they zero in on that “Gotta have it!” item at… [Read More]