Another great poem from The Writer’s Almanac on NPR. Makes me want to write more poetry. Why am I working on a novel? Why? Why?? Oh, right. Because I have an incredible story to tell only it’s longer than a story. And I have these characters that i’m bringing to life that people are going [...]

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We’re almost unpacked in our new house. We have pictures on a few of the walls and the boxes are down to the double digits (maybe even under 20?). Photos of the new place to come, I promise. I’m halfway through summer teaching and have gotten back into working on my book. I have a [...]

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Dear Blog, I’m so sorry for neglecting you, but, you see, we are moving (Ted and I) to a new home– a real house with a yard and a dishwasher and a garage! So I promise I’ll spend more time with you as soon as we get everything settled there (this weekend). In the meantime, [...]

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This just in from my Merriam-Webster Daily (emailed) Dictionary: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day May 28 eclogue \ECK-log\ noun Meaning : a poem in which shepherds converse Example Sentence “Be it in the appropriation of the goatherd or shepherd in the pastoral eclogue, or the neatly controlled terraces of the Georgics, the pastoral has always [...]

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How is it that Billy Collins always knows just what to say to make me smile? (from The Writer’s Almanac, April 17, 2009). Field Guide by Billy Collins No one I ask knows the name of the flower we pulled the car to the side of the road to pick and that I point to [...]

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I’m digging this new poem from The Writer’s Almanac: No Matter How Far You Drive by Louis Jenkins I sat between Mamma and Daddy. My sister sat on Mamma’s lap. Daddy drove. Fields, telephone poles…. I watched the sun go down. “Never look straight at the sun, it could ruin your eyes.” No matter how [...]

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This poem left me breathless. From NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac: Poem on a Line by Anne Sexton, ‘We are All Writing God’s Poem’ by Barbara Crooker Today, the sky’s the soft blue of a work shirt washed a thousand times. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. On the interstate listening [...]

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From the March 12 Writer’s Almanac: New York Notes by Harvey Shapiro 1. Caught on a side street in heavy traffic, I said to the cabbie, I should have walked. He replied, I should have been a doctor. 2. When can I get on the 11:33 I ask the guy in the information booth at [...]

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This week in my Creative Nonfiction class I asked the students to free write about a LIE they once told. We talked about lies– white lies, bold/blatant lies, lies to protect someone, lying to ourselves, lies to make someone feel better, hurtful lies, funny lies. I was quite a liar as a child, though I [...]

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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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