Recently, my niece and her family who live in a Seattle suburb went on vacation, and I took care of their pug, kitty, and lizard. I live in the beautiful San Juan Islands northwest of Seattle, and occasional pet-sitting gigs for my niece give me a… Read full post »

 

The New Portland Loo http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-08-29-portland-loo-20120829,0,104499.story

 In a current TV commercial, a group of women discuss toilet paper, approaching it as a forbidden topic that they are courageous enough to tackle. I mean, really.… Read full post »

Matt Paust commented on my previous post, "I'm curious as to how you got into the memoir biz."

This, then, is that story.

In 2001, I lived in Santa Barbara. Shortly after 9/11, a woman I'd met through a Wellesley connection invited me to a lunch… Read full post »

 

 

Memory is creative. It stores scenes from our lives that may or may not have happened and that almost certainly did not happen exactly the way we remember them. A memoir, then, is not so much a record of events as it is our perspective… Read full post »

 

After I awoke that first morning of being unemployed in Santa Fe, I faced the day with dread. I'd read about what a nightmare unemployment is and wondered how I would survive not having a job and paycheck plus health insurance. Surely I would become homeless, and perhaps I… Read full post »

 

 

I’ve been hanging out with my grandson over the holidays while his parents were working. In playgrounds and museums and at the beach, what stood out for me was the ways boys and girls do or do not conform to gender stereotypes.

At a kids’ museum, a group… Read full post »

 

 

While the view you have of yourself may depend more on self-esteem than on objective reality, self-esteem is tricky to pin down. What are we supposed to think when we receive so much advice with so little consistency? Consider these examples (my comments in parenthesis):

&ldqu… Read full post »

 "When the tide is out, the table is set."

Old Coastal Salish Indian saying

 

 Photo BC Kelp  http://www.bckelp.com/BCKelp-Photos.html

Walking along the ocean shoreline, does your mouth water at the sight of seaweed? Mine didn’t until I met Jesse Longacre, a Cal… Read full post »

Do I believe in assisted suicide? You bet I do. And here, in response to the hbo_jack Open Call, is why.

In January 2009, I posted here the story of my mother's lonely suicide in Seattle./… Read full post »

 

Once upon a time, Americans didn't fool around with illness. Never mind health plans. Just pop into the druggist. Got a headache? Take an aspirin. Got a cough? Take an aspirin with heroin. Huh, what's that you say? You'd like something in between, instead of going straight from aspirin… Read full post »

I lived in Santa Barbara from 1999 until 2006. I left on impulse (that’s another story) and stay in touch with friends there, some of whom are among the best friends I have. Today almost all have been evacuated from their gracious homes or are in the warning zone and ready… Read full post »

Today I had this OS message from an Alert Reader (as Dave Barry would say): "Did someone named Roger Vaughn just copy your piece and put it down as his own?"

I visited the Vaughn blog (http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=114208) and whadya know? He writes that he is a priest, and he claims… Read full post »