Monthly Archives: February, 2009
The Kite Runner
Around Christmas, I read a streak of really well-written books that were also pretty brutal and gutwrenching to read (I’m thinking especially of House of Sand and Fog which I reviewed here). Just recently, I finished The Kite Runner, which was like that also. The Kite Runner is a story about the bonds of father-son …
Fear Itself
First it was far off– the cousin of my cousin’s husband in upstate New York lost his job. Then the governor of our state hinted around about making employees pay more of their health care costs and even started talking about layoffs. Then a friend from grad school started posting cryptic Facebook status messages, right …
Patchwork Life
First, if you are one of the many people who have landed here by searching for “patchwork poem” or any variation on “patchwork pattern,” I do apologize! This is a blog about my life, my thoughts, and my work, and I don’t actually do any patchwork, except for the metaphorical kind. Naming a blog is …
Bicycles Built for Three
Yes, I watched the Oscars last night. I was happy to see Heath Ledger and Kate Winslet win, loved having groups of past winners welcome the winners into their circle, happy for the Slumdog crowd even though I haven’t seen the movie yet. I was surprised to see Sean Penn win, but loved his acceptance …
Voices
I recently decided to start helping out with another afterschool club at my girls’ school– this time, it’s an art club, with a very good friend of mine as one of the co-sponsors. I’m starting to realize that one of my common patterns is to say “yes” to every interesting possiblity that comes along, without …
Valentine’s Day
I completely understand why a lot of people hate Valentine’s Day. I have many, many friends and relatives who spent years as one of the chronically single, reminded each time of how single they were on the day when it felt like everyone else in the world was coupled up and incredibly happy. So I …
Totally Obvious and Incredibly Effective
Sometimes with teaching, you stumble upon an idea that seems so obvious you can’t believe you never thought of it before. And then you try it, and it works, and you kick yourself for not having done it all along. This past week, a colleague of mine and I were chatting about our ninth grade …
Dream Jobs
Here’s a question for you, stolen directly from 11D: what dream jobs have you considered but never actually pursued? And second questions: what jobs have people said you should have, but you never did? My dream jobs: Interior decorator, ballerina, tap dancer, singer-songwriter, rock star, journalist, novelist, pastry chef, tenured professor Suggested jobs: acupuncturist, once, …
My Writing Process
Recently my husband came upstairs to find me snug under the covers and scribbling in my current favorite poetry notebook, a lime-colored clothbound hardback with lined pages, stuffed with drafts and about a quarter full of poems. “How are the poems coming along?” he said, kind of like you’d ask a gardener about their tomato …
Friday ________ Blogging
Even though I’ve been blogging for years, I’ve never had a set blogging pattern. I’ve always just posted whatever I felt like, whenever I felt like it– sometimes I joined in themed global days, like blogging for peace or reproductive choice, but even those I’ve not done religiously. I’ve never done Friday Cat Blogging, and …
BackTalk