The Last Word

Christie kicked off the week by reduxing a post about the time she lost her phone, and found her brain: The impossibility of sharing with the rest of the world whatever moment I was experiencing here and now was a powerful reminder of how much more I take in when I’m not relying on technology to […]

Redux: Rainbow Connection

  I wrote this post in 2014 after my kids were playing around a large eucalyptus tree in a nearby park. After writing it, I became much more fond of that dishevled tree–even though it wasn’t a rainbow eucalyptus, the tree had a distinct charm of its own. So I was a little sad when […]

Girasol

There’s an unclaimed patch of ground right next to our driveway, the planting strip between the sidewalk and the street. Over the years it’s been filled with many things. Weeds, mostly. Orange poppies. Maroon-colored amaranth that toss confetti seeds across the sidewalk. Weeds, again. This year, my husband and our youngest son planted sunflowers in […]

The Last Word

July 17-21, 2017 Ann is reading Colm Tóibín’s House of Names, and starts the week thinking about ancient Greece:  I started to wonder about the strange discrepancy between these revenge-addled murderers and the rational, educated ancient Greeks who were the foundation of Western civilization; who founded much of our sculpture, architecture, philosophy, literature, math, and […]

What’s My Lipstick?

The rumors are true: I’m kind of a slob. In high school, I wore baggy pants during the day and boxer shorts to volleyball practice. In college, I wore pajama bottoms to morning classes. I also wore them at least once on an afternoon coffee that turned out to be a date. Recently, while at […]

Friend Me

At dinner for my 18th birthday, one of my friends gave me one of those long, narrow posters filled with advice and inspiration that were popular at the time. I don’t have the poster in front of me, but there were things like this: Never wash a car, mow a lawn, or buy a Christmas […]

The Last Word

On Monday, Richard kicks off the week by giving history the finger. Galileo’s finger, that is: The middle finger of Galileo’s right hand is a satisfying sight. Not because the resemblance to an obscene gesture is unmistakable (though that’s pretty amusing). And not because such a gesture might suggest that in the end a scientist who suffered persecution for […]

Redux: June Gloom

It’s that time of year again: less than three weeks until the summer solstice, and I have pulled out my down vest, wool hat, scarf, and fuzzy boots. Yes, June Gloom is reduxing, as is this post, which originally appeared in 2012. But it’s not so bad. I love my fuzzy boots. ** I used […]