It is the Red-White-and-Blue summer of 1976. I am five years old. My parents are—I believe—off somewhere sorting out the details of their looming divorce, while my grandmother, Polly, takes me and my brothers swimming at a lake somewhere in either North or East Texas. I am five, so the details are unclear. What is... Continue Reading →
And Also … Happy Mother’s Day to the Childless
I used to hide in my house on Mother’s Day. There was a deep grief and resentment that overcame me when I realized I wouldn’t have children. I couldn’t bear the joyful Mother’s Day wishes and random flowers thrust upon me by merchants or community members. Or the moments when someone was about to say... Continue Reading →
Story of a Home: 906 Stillmeadow … Oak Cliff
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 →
Untitled: A Look at Titles
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 →
Ada’s Diet: One Day in January 1879
From December 16, 1878 to January 14, 1879, Englishwoman Madame Ada Anderson walked 2,700 quarter miles in 2,700 quarter hours at Mozart Garden in Brooklyn, NY. As news spread of her extraordinary endurance walk, her fame as a pedestrienne grew. For those who weren’t able to attend the 28-day walk by the performer-turned-athlete, the newspapers of the day reported her... Continue Reading →
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 650 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 11 trips to carry that many people. Click here to see the... Continue Reading →
Ten Books I Love (in the order which I encountered them)
1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl When I read this book, I knew I wanted to be a writer. A delicious concoction of the sorrows and delights of life. 2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee I love hard stories that are told sweetly. A perfect book. 3. Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade,... Continue Reading →
