So, how about that speech. I heard a Republican caller on CSPAN say that she loved it! He said all the great things! I saw a lot of agreement that his base would eat it up, and they did. Hearing that so many people think that was actually a good speech really made me feel like giving up on writing (if not this planet). Because I would never, ever write something that shitty (for public consumption) in substance or style. And maybe that means no one will ever like my writing.

I'll always remember: This is the golden latte I was sipping and gripping when someone asked if I was a writer. I had a notebook and a pen-- actually, two notebooks and two pens. The Clairefontaine notebook takes the gel pen, the tiny Moleskine notebook takes a rollerball. I was filling pages in the large Clairefontaine because it's my journal and I was in Sayulita and there was so much to reflect on-- the way life moved here, the spill of the flowers on balconies, the dogs d

Let hope drive action more, anxiety drive inaction less. In other words, have a Year of Yes! It seems like commonsense on paper: Decisions driven by anxiety lead to bad results. Decisions driven by the facts and calm reason lead to good results. But I've noticed that, especially as I get older, maybe especially in the last few years, anxiety about things stops me. Stops me from: making plans easily (because what if something else comes up and who's going to take care of the k

It's November, and that means my inbox has a backlog of emails preparing me for WRITING LIKE CRAZY. Apparently, November, that month of family holidays, inspires creativity. Or maybe it's that November, that month of family holidays, cried out for some outlet to save it from becoming known as the emotional pressure cooker month everyone (secretly?) dreaded. In any case, if writing is your emotional outlet and/or creative haven and/or intellectual pleasure, then you may find i

Though she was born at the end of October, our elder daughter decided to celebrate her birthday this year on November 1st. We spent the day at an amusement park with three of her friends. It was our first time there; we kept the paper map out and spent a lot of time walking back and forth along the same path, seeing new things as we went. November 1, in a way, turned out to be a great day to try something new to celebrate her new year. The start of this particular new month,

The punch line is, of course, that there's no perfect time and place. But it seems that I need to relearn this lesson every so often (daily-ish). The other day, I noticed a writer friend shared a photo from the beautiful place she's visiting. She's lucky and successful in many ways, and being able to travel easily is one of them. Before I could stop my brain, I'd thought it: "If only I could be there!" I indulged in the fantasy for a minute: No obligations other than the ones