Writer
I used to pretend I was Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s love-child. In a spiritual-literary sense, I still dream that it's true. Here’s a lecture he gave about the Shape of Stories. In his sublime simplicity and humor, he explains all of storytelling with a simple graph. It applies, as well, to the stories we tell ourselves.... Continue Reading →
I have lumps in my breasts. Quite a few actually. In March 2019, I watched – my head twisted cockeyed – straining to see the screen where my radiologist measured all of the solid masses she found. Rolling the tools of her well-practiced trade on my naked and gel-covered breasts, she chatted with me and... Continue Reading →
Today I heard from the author of "The Passing of Exquisite Music" that she's okay with my learning and performing the one-woman play she wrote about Martha Root. I spent time with manuscript this evening on the porch of my Texas home. My projects tend to evolve slowly, until they burst out alive. I prefer... Continue Reading →
As the Class of 89's 30-year high school reunion approaches, I’ve been thinking of the kids we went to school with. My Facebook feed is a flood of pictures and memories. Some pictures make me laugh, some cause confusion, some bring – most bring – all of the insecurity back. That knot in the stomach.... Continue Reading →
June 4, 2019: Made progress tonight on turning my short story "The Canyon Flier" into a one act play. Finished outlining how I'm seeing the adaptation and wrote a few transitional sections. The main character, Ernesto, has been badgering me for months about finishing his story. He sends me small airplanes overhead as reminders to... Continue Reading →
For decades, your family home provided the backdrop for your life’s memories. Every room in the house echoes with laughter and tears. The process of packing up decades can overwhelm a seller, and the emotions can be intense. Plus selling a family home can have more people involved in the process than the typical transaction.... Continue Reading →
To open her 1866 journal, Alice wrote seven quotations in Latin that are hard to decipher to my 21st century eyes. She wrote them in her most elegant script. Then, she signs her name: Alice M. Finch Va. And she quotes Lord Byron’s “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” a lengthy narrative poem published between 1812 and 1818.* “There... Continue Reading →
Spring Break 1994, Elsa and I went camping. This was our last spring break as students, since we were both completing our master's degrees in education that year. I had already started working as a long-term substitute teacher in the school district where Elsa and I had met and become friends in the late '80s.... Continue Reading →
Some holidays are so much like all the other holidays that they run together with the other ones in a big holiday soup. It's difficult to distinguish one from the next. This late-20th-century selfie was not from one of those holidays. I'm posing here with my brother, Tracy. This was the Thanksgiving that my half-sister,... Continue Reading →
Who doesn't love a Santa Selfie? I remember explaining to this particular Santa what I wanted to do because the term selfie didn't exist yet. "Can I take a picture of us together, but, you know the kind where someone holds the camera out like this, and the picture is just two big faces?"... Continue Reading →
You're at a museum and a piece catches your eye. You stop and read the description only to find that it's called "Untitled." Maybe you feel ripped off. Maybe you think the artist was slacking off. Maybe you're annoyed that the creator couldn't give you just a little more, a simple name for what this... Continue Reading →
Oh, Alice. How many times have I picked up this project over the past 30 years? Yes, it's been that long since I first met you through the journal you kept in the 1880s and early 1890s. Later as a woman in her late 30s, I met with you again through your 1866 journal, where... Continue Reading →
If you haven’t peeked into Main Street Pickers at 408 N. Main Street in Duncanville, you should. Nick Nichols, has a created a space full of treasures, ranging from antiques to mid-century-modern furniture to quirky pieces you won’t find anywhere else. He also features some local artists such as Tomas Artiga and Gene Gregory. After Nick retired... Continue Reading →
We packed your bag today. I told you the stories of when I went to where you are going now. The deep, dark woods of life. I told you about the night I got cold and hungry and found a bears' house to sleep. About the time your uncle and I left breadcrumbs to the... Continue Reading →
“I may yet be worthy of the name of woman, in the purist and noblest sense. Yes, I will be if resolution and perseverance can accomplish anything.” Alice Marshall Finch, May 1866 This is a line from my great-great grandmother’s journal. She was 18 or 19 when she wrote this and living near Richmond, Virginia.... Continue Reading →
I spent about half an hour gazing at the Sphinx that’s a part of the British Musuem's internationally touring “The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece” exhibition now at the Dallas Museum of Art (through October 6, 2013). I had seen the exhibit a few weeks ago and dutifully read all the descriptions and spent time... Continue Reading →
For over 50 years, one family has called 906 Stillmeadow Road their home. But it was long before the first brick was laid that the man who designed the home, Dr. Ben Moore dreamed of the French-provincial-style house on the corner. A second generation Oak Cliffer, Dr. Moore began plans for making this home... Continue Reading →
