• [ the great undoing ]

    Well, time to add Memorial Day to the casualty list. I used to love it. Pools opened, schools closed, life took on a sweet, light-hearted vibe. Optimism bloomed like flowers. This year is different. Disillusioned is the order of the day. The last six or seven years have taken a toll on everyone, of course,…

  • [ my dog tried to kill me ]

    Her name is Sparky. She’s part chihuahua, part Jack Russell terrier. You’d think, with that combination, she’d be a yippy, hyperactive pain in the neck. Quite the opposite. This dog is nine pounds of Greta Garbo — aloof, composed, self-possessed, and coolheaded. She does not fluster. I do, I fluster all the time. Let me…

  • [ stating the obvious ]

    Mornings are hateful things. They arrive too early, for starters, all bright-eyed and bushytailed and at the crack of dawn. You, meanwhile, can barely open your crusty, sleepy eyes, but when you do, surprise! It’s a fresh start, brand new adventures await. Enthusiasm and endorphins flood your brain and you feel like a twelve-year old…

  • [ a travel guide for introverts ]

    My initial idea here, more of a germ, really, was to create a bare-bones list of my favorite destinations, places whose solace I seek when I’m whelmed — which is often. And do it in the style of a travel guide, like Fodor’s or Michelin. So I powered up the computer, opened a document, typed…

  • [ the speed of light ]

    What is there to do on a rainy, blustery afternoon when reenacting Dorothy and Toto isn’t your cup of tea? Well, I parked myself at the computer and blew my own mind — just for the fun of it. By reading about light-years. I understand the term in the layman’s sense, meaning a loooooooong way.…