Saving Face premiers on Thursday, March 8 at 8:30pm/7:30 Central (HBO and Channel 4, U.K.)

While walking with my 8-year-old son near our home in Manhattan, he spotted a purple swastika scrawled across a billboard advertisement. As I took in the complexities of the situation, my son uttered words that made my heart break...

Across the nation,… Read full post »

It was a very risky idea, given how much he wanted Beats headphones ($200 headphones for a kid?) and a Wii.  But this past week I gave my tween-age son his holiday present, choosing to surprise him with the gift of an experience over a thing.

Here's what… Read full post »

I think it's the perfect gift for the holidays.  But how will my son react when he finds out where this Santa will be sending him for the next five days?

Recently I took a cold, hard look around our NYC apartment to assess the cause… Read full post »

It happens every year around December 10th.  I'll be standing at the stove cooking dinner, or simply waiting at the bus shelter when I suddenly get a little choked up.  Or a lot choked up, depending on the year.

This Saturday will be one of those days --… Read full post »

How can we instill in our children an appreciation for what they already have -- especially when the people around them seem to have just about everything?  Here's our family's holiday tip...

This fall, my two children moved from a warm and… Read full post »

 Listen to Studs Terkel talk about what has been lost in modern life and where he saw hope for our future

Ah, Black Friday.  The most ironic holiday of the year!

Shopping list in hand, sharp elbows at the ready -- this is the… Read full post »

Last month my year to live journey came to an end.

For nearly one year, a small group of us met each month at the Village Zendo in New York to discuss mortality and to think constructively about how we might go about living… Read full post »

photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Friends,

Unbelievably, I’ve arrived at the end of the Year to Live project.  While I had originally thought our final class would take place in January 2011 – 364 days from when we started — it will draw to a close this… Read full post »

One of the things that makes Halloween and the Day of the Dead interesting in my family is the skeleton we’ve had in the closet for 3 generations running.

While this may sound sinister or downright peculiar, let me assure you that Felix,… Read full post »

Two weeks ago some of my closest friends from college were in New York for our annual gathering, a tradition we began nine years earlier.  The amazing thing about my friends is that they’re game for almost anything, which is how we found ourselves on a beautiful… Read full post »

For a recent Year to Live class, we were asked to bring five objects that represent the most meaningful aspects of our lives.  The task was to place these 5 things on a small altar in the classroom, where we could then explain them to our/… Read full post »

 Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side NYC

 Dearest Friends,

For nearly two months now, I’ve completely neglected my Year to Live project.  Dead silence on my part.  I got so out of the habit of writing this blog that I had to root through piles… Read full post »

On a recent trip to London, I was strolling in an outdoor market with friends when one of them pulled us into a stall featuring the work of her favorite artist, Banksy.

For me, it was love at first sight.

Banksy is a graffiti artist… Read full post »

Sit quietly for a while and bring to mind someone from your past whose kindness touched your heart.

Envision yourself speaking

… Read full post »

 I used to have a neighbor who would yell at her young children a lot.

I would listen to her voice reverberating through the thin walls of our building and vow th… Read full post »

Last month, for instance, he didn’t raise an eyebrow when I asked him to come with me to an exhibit called… Read full post »

There must be some way to integrate death into living, neither ignoring it nor giving in to it.             – Audre Lorde

If we wish to die well, we must learn how to live well:  Hoping for a peaceful death, we must cultivate pe… Read full post »