Diana Wynne Jones almost made me miss my flight. I was so entirely inside FIRE AND HEMLOCK that it was only the final boarding call that managed to penetrate my consciousness. Are you surprised that I was reading it for … Keep reading
Category Archives: Family
The New Normal
I’m a creature of habit, and never is that clearer to me than when I’m in a new situation. Uncharted territory? Hold on, let me just make a chart real quick. Terra incognita? No no, there’s a guide to it … Keep reading
Desk, set
Whether or not I travel for the holidays, the end brings a jet-lag, new-time-zone feeling. It’s also a little like moving, since we tend to reconfigure the house significantly to accommodate festivity. My writing desk, for instance, was deployed as a … Keep reading
1 x 1 photos, old
The last time I visited the Usual Undisclosed Location, I brought back an envelope full of photos labeled in my dad’s handwriting: 1 x 1 photos, old. They’re relatives, I’m fairly sure, though there are no names on the backs … Keep reading
Editing
I have been engaged, for the past week or so, in parallel tasks, one largely conceptual, the other a mix of conceptual and physical. The conceptual-centric task: revising my graphic novel script. Deciding what threads need to be connected, what … Keep reading
Post-Father’s Day
So Father’s Day, for me, is a day to think about how much I miss my dad. I have lots of days like that, only rarely underscored by national celebrations, and on those days, I often read Dad’s writing. Sometimes, … Keep reading
Mine eyes have seen
I’m in the Usual Undisclosed Location for a week. Time here always provides experiences that I am unlikely to have in Portland; for instance, going to church with my mom. Red, white and blue decorations, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” … Keep reading
Ambushes
You can’t predict them, because then they wouldn’t be ambushes. You can’t say, “Come on now, I’m on my damn lunch break, crying is just not on.” You can’t plan for them. You can’t make a note on your Outlook … Keep reading
This Year
Near the end of a phenomenal Mountain Goats show. Amazing energy, the barn has been in flames all night, and even though I want to punch the drunk screamers just as much as usual, I’m still so glad I’m here. … Keep reading
They’re playing Bonnie Raitt, not Iron and Wine. The guy at the next table is reading the Bible, not the alt-weekly. But they’ve got soy lattes and free wifi, so here I am. On the way to the coffeehouse, I … Keep reading
1930-2008
…the success of a public library is difficult to measure; circulation statistics and the like tell only part of the story. Such matters are analogous to that part of the iceberg above the surface. The real meaning of the library … Keep reading
Another kind of coming out
I was looking over my last several months’ worth of entries, and found myself more struck by what I wasn’t saying than what I was. I have a lot of what Garret recently called “breathless blogging type entries” and far … Keep reading
Briefly noted
I just reread Richard Russo’s Mohawk. Russo is one of my favorite writers, and his usual small-town subject matter fits where I am right now, this blue-collar town, struggling to redefine itself after the collapse of most of the local … Keep reading
Some of this trip’s discoveries
I quote myself: “As the child of two librarians, one of whom worked in rare books and special collections, I don’t have family stuff so much as a museum and archive.” So when I’m at my parents’ house, I dig … Keep reading
Generic, specific
I’m still thinking about place. Where I am now, the overwhelming majority of businesses are national chains. Their existence is described approvingly with definite and indefinite articles, e.g.: “We got a Target,” “The Wal-mart has the cheapest coffee filters.” To … Keep reading
Two green chairs
My great-grandmother had this chair on her porch: I don’t know who had this one, which looks like my great-grandmother’s chair’s twin, but it shows up on page 34 of Cottage Living magazine, in their “Fresh Ideas 2007″ issue: And … Keep reading
Found in the basement
My great-grandfather’s handkerchief box: He was a farmer, and a lodge member. Inside are two bandanas, various receipts, lodge jewelry, a card from the Maryland Horse and Mule Company, and my favorite item, his business card. It has what I’m … Keep reading