Where to begin? I seem to keep taking too long to post new blog entries. Sorry. This has got to be one of the slowest summers — as far as (paid) work for me — I’ve ever had but still I find myself busy, frazzled, distracted. So, first, Fishtrap. Got back from my 8-day writing [...]

Posted in Fishtrap, cute photos of me, fiction, my writing, travel, writers, writing residencies 3 Comments »

<–got this photo at an antique store just outside Johnson Vermont last month. On the back it says “Uncle Fred’s brother Alvin. Hazel’s father.” Today had one of the longest (and most productive) days of writing since I got back from Vermont. Also, kind of nice to go with the hubby and write. We went [...]

Posted in Vermont Studio Center, books, cute photos of me, my writing, nonfiction, postcards, ted, writers No Comments »

Wow. I can’t believe it’s over. My last day at Vermont Studio Center. So much to say but my head is utterly pounding and the thoughts in my brain a-jumble — anxiety about travel tomorrow, the strange ritual of packing up after 5 weeks away, the  goodbyes to dozens of wonderful people. What is there [...]

Posted in Vermont Studio Center, art, books, cats, collage, cute photos of me, my writing, ted, travel, word of the day, writers 3 Comments »

Well, it’s now been officially 2 weeks since I got here to VSC. I’ve definitely settled in (you know you’re settled in when you sleep in and miss breakfast). Yesterday several people went home–the two-weekers we call them. It was a gloomy day; they were all such cool folks: Sarah G, Sarah C, Scott, Pedro, [...]

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Ted’s been away over a week and i’m going stir crazy! Thankfully he is coming home tonight. It was only a week, I know, but when it’s just me and the kitties it gets a little weird. I wonder what he’s going to do when i’m in Vermont for a month doing my writer’s residency? [...]

Posted in Vermont Studio Center, books, cute photos of me, my latest man-crush, poetry, questions that plague me, teaching, ted, writers 3 Comments »

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day July 12 usufruct \YOO-zuh-frukt\   noun Meaning *1 : the legal right of using and enjoying the fruits or profits of something belonging to another 2 : the right to use or enjoy something Example Sentence Dorothy’s will bequeathed one-third of her estate to her husband; the remaining two-thirds was [...]

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Back from Utah. What a glorious trip! This is my third (fourth?) trip to St. George, Utah for work on my book but this time I really felt a much stronger sense of place–which I hope (no, I believe) I can convey in the book. Some days I just sat outside in the red rock [...]

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From The Writer’s Almanac, March 29, 2009: Teaching Poetry to 3rd Graders by Gary Short At recess a boy ran to me with a pink rubber ball and asked if I would kick it to him. He handed me the ball, then turned and ran and ran and ran, not turning back until he was [...]

Posted in books, cute photos of me, fiction, my writing, teaching, writers 3 Comments »

I’m participating in an all day Write-A-Thon this Saturday in San Diego. No, I did not say Write-A-Thong! Though if it helps me get more pledges I just might wear one! I’m going to be sitting at my laptop for 9 hours, writing. Well, actually about 8 hours and 30 minutes, because i’m also leading [...]

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That’s me, second from the right, in the blue vest and (of course) tennis shoes. Me and the other boys from my Sunday School class, circa 1979–thirty years ago, St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in El Cajon, California. My hair is so shiny blond, like a Breck Girl Ad. Here’s a memory: I was an acolyte [...]

Posted in Uncategorized, cute photos of me, my family, poetry No Comments »