WordPress used to have a widget I loved. I love maps in any case---I'm a certifiable cartophile, and this map I loved in particular. A blogger could put this widget on the side of the page, and its map showed all the countries in which the blog had been read. SO cool. I can still … Continue reading The Lost Map
Tag: Writing
Lost & Found
I just got sucked into the "Daily Prompt." I've been peripherally aware that the daily writing-prompt was a Thing, having seen blog-posts that responded to it---but I hadn't really paid attention. My brain is a busy enough place that I don't generally "go looking" for a prompt. But I do go for a daily stroll … Continue reading Lost & Found
Better Than a Fairy Godmother
What could possibly be better than having a Fairy Godmother? Having a REAL one, of course! When my dad was in grad school and my parents lived in Married Student Housing, they lived upstairs or downstairs (I forget who was where) from Klaus & Karen Sitte, and they became fast friends. The kind of prank-playing … Continue reading Better Than a Fairy Godmother
Avoiding “Sketcher’s Block”
I have a weird relationship with drawing and painting. I'm utterly ignorant, have never taken so much as a weekend workshop, couldn't tell you if that Italian word describes a painting technique or a musical instruction. I've figured out some stuff, just playing---some stuff about light and shadow and perspective, at least. You can generally … Continue reading Avoiding “Sketcher’s Block”
Portofino
I've been revisiting old poetry, thinking of taking up the poet's quill again... It's poetry-writing in which I took my Master's degree, but I discovered "creative nonfiction" (the personal essay) late in the game, and it's that genre I really fell in love with. They didn't offer a degree in creative nonfiction, anyway, or I … Continue reading Portofino
Cross My Heart
When I was a kid, I loved paint-by-number kits. I remember they always came in three-packs (three paintings of horses, three paintings of lighthouses), and I loved everything about them. I loved the tiny paint-pots, all connected in a little plastic row. I loved stirring up the oil paints with a toothpick, watching the sludgy-looking … Continue reading Cross My Heart
The User’s Manual: 13 Rules
Joshua Pantalleresco, who recently had me as a guest on his podcast, "Just Joshing," has ten Life Rules he tries to live by. I asked, after we went off the air, and he rattled them off for me. Number One is "Show up;" Number Ten is choose the option that's more fun (all other things … Continue reading The User’s Manual: 13 Rules






