A friend died this week. One moment she was living life deeply and the next unable to speak or move. The suddenness was jarring, and it knocked me back a bit. The odd thing was that we'd never actually met, at least not in person.
Writing
Washington On Your Side
Washington in February may have been a misguided vacation plan. Sub-freezing temps, every layer of clothing I own, more miles of walking and more sitting in the car than is good for me - I kept hearing Little Feat's Old Folks Boogie: "And you know, that you're over the hill, when your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill."
Sweeping Up
I've been using a mental whisk broom to collect my 2021 details into a tidy pile. I look them over, and then… what? Resolve to do better, repeat what works, lose my frantic grip on what doesn't? It was the worst of times, but it was also the best.
Writing Like Heaven
It's NaNoWriMo time (National Novel Writing Month) this November! I signed up to write a 50,000 word first draft of a book along with hundreds of thousands of other crazy people around the world. That's 1,667 words per day, for those of you doing the math.
The Final Word on the Absolute Very Best Time To Write
Haruki Murakami wakes at 4am to write, without variation. Hemingway wrote as soon as it got light. Vonnegut started at 5:30am.... Since successful writers have set routines unique to them, there must be an optimal time for me as well....
Remembering
Remembering, forgetting, sleep, no sleep, letting go, understanding, not understanding, the horizon in front of me....
52 Steps to Becoming a Writer
Anyone can become a writer. It hasn't been a straight path or an easy journey for me. But here are 52 steps that will get you on your way.
Round in Circles
Here I go walking in circles again. If it's not one direction out my front door, it's the other, always in circles, round and round the neighborhood, looping past the same houses, same yards, same trees.
What Am I Rooting For?
I am too quick to anger, too prone to tears, trigger happy and ready to hate, scorn, and yes, wish ill to those who ascribe to viewpoints I see as harmful to people, to our nation, and the world at large.
Checking In
What will be my Quarantine Story, what tales will I tell in five years, or 10 or 20? Will it be a story of victory or sadness, revelation or survival, entertainment or boredom, or even joy? Which stories will last, and which will be of the moment?
Rivers and Roads PDX 