Rolling Stone magazine has just revised its list of The Best Stand-Up Comics (top 50) and Richard Pryor has risen to #1. Quote: “As is the case with all great artists, Richard Pryor went through an evolution in his life and work: He survived a disturbing childhood whose scary and colorful personalities shaped the basis […]
Find Your Past in Your Present
It has not been an easy month. I noticed this morning that I have seventeen unfinished drafts of blog posts. Four of them were written in the last thirty days. There they sit, waiting for another day. On the bright side, I also noticed that when I least expect it, I find a relevant moment […]
You CAN Go Home Again
It’s the time of year when most of us make the trek to the scene of our origins. It’s a return to where we grew up, or where the siblings that we’re still speaking to reside, or where our parents—if they’re alive— might still be hosting a neutral setting for others to come together. When […]
Thanksgiving in a Changed Land
In my youth, Thanksgiving was always a rock solid holiday in the United States. Norman Rockwell solid. Family and friends sitting around a table with a roasted symbol of plenty in the middle. A home-grown turkey so big it filled the oven like one of those Japanese melons grown in boxes so they’ll be harvested […]
How to Tell a Damn Good Story
Pat Conroy said, “The most powerful words in English are ‘tell me a story.’” Imagine our ancestors sitting around the glowing embers of a dying fire, the fire reflected in their eyes, their rapt attention inspiring the storyteller to go deeper and deeper still. Storytelling surely has instinct and intensity in primal roots and gut […]
Writing the Nightmares
This morning I awakened at four, as is not uncommon for me. I rolled over and thought happy thoughts, took a few deep belly breathes and fell back asleep, only to reawaken two hours later with a vivid nightmare shaking me by the shoulders. Writing the Nightmares When I attended The Magic of Memoir conference […]
The Value of Writer Critique Groups
The value of writer critique groups was brought home to me this week. I finally located a Memoir-specific critique group and joined their Write & Share meet-up on Wednesday at the Greenwood branch of the Seattle Public Library. Frankly, I arrived a little shell-shocked. Riding the ferry is always relaxing. Seagulls and sea spray off […]
New Yorker Envy
I refer to New Yorker subscription envy. Not New Yorker resident envy. Sure, it would be fun to live in NYC—maybe for a month or a semester. (It’s been decades, but maybe once again I’ll find myself with a syllabus.) I see myself hitting up the museums I’ve not gotten around to. The Cloisters, for […]
Sit With Us App
The Sit With Us app was announced yesterday, creating a subtle but ground-breaking way for lonely teens to connect in lunch rooms without calling attention to themselves. 16-year-old Natalie Hampton designed the Sit With Us smartphone application in response to the feelings that she experienced when she spent her entire 7th grade year eating lunch […]
It’s All About the Food and Tradition
One of our sons is visiting this week with his wife, and a friend from his school days has driven up the coast to join us for a few days. If there were a theme to this week it would be “Food and Tradition” because when mothers entertain sons, isn’t that a major factor? The […]