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 [...]

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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 [...]

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Walt Whitman When I Heard at the Close of the Day When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv’d with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that follow’d; And else, when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d, still I [...]

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I’m hoping for a new year of creativity, much reading and more writing, a year of change, of equality, of compassion and respect, of peace, of prosperity. Jackophobia: The fear that somewhere, somehow, Jack is watching you Hope With Dick and Jane (postcard made by me, Nov. 2008) Me and Ted, July 2008 And finally, [...]

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Sadly, Beverly Garland has died. As a kid I had hoped thought she was a long-lost sister of Judy Garland. But, I learned later, she was not. She was a B-Horror Movie Queen, a prolific television actress –the first policewoman on television (some of you younger kids might remember her from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, [...]

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So i’ve been profiled in a local paper here in La Jolla–La Jolla Light (sounds like a cooking show or a diet plan, right?). But it’s actually a really nifty little paper. The reason they decided to write about me is that I have an essay just out in a new (World Famous) Chicken Soup [...]

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Posted in cute photos of me 3 Comments »