Sunday Poetry: The Iron Solos and the Sirens
Welcome to Sunday Poetry. If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here. We’ll be moving mid-June. First to our little cottage at Chautauqua Institution for the summer, then to. . . somewhere. The house hunting hasn’t gone well, but we’re strangely upbeat. Our material life…
Read MoreThe Write Way: Every Writer Needs a Mind Palace
Watch Sherlock Season 2: Making a Modern Hound on PBS. See more from Masterpiece. Last night I watched the newest Sherlock Holmes on P’BS Masterpiece Mystery, an updated version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. I love this series. Sherlock and Watson are a fabulously dysfunctional pair, Sherlock clearly suffering from Aspergers and Watson recovering from…
Read MoreKeepers and Giveaways: What’s On YOUR Bookshelf?
As my husband delivered yet another bag of books to the Arlington Library, the librarian came forward to thank him personally. After all, even if nobody else gives the library gently read books for the next book sale, it will still be a success. Singlehandedly we have donated hundreds of volumes, about nine out of…
Read MoreSunday Poetry: For Once It Was His Own
Welcome to Sunday Poetry. If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here. It’s Mother’s Day in the US, but today’s poem highlights romantic love. We’ve heard so much talk about love and marriage this week, but not the way we usually do in spring. Instead…
Read MoreKeeping Up with Pinterest
Nothing beats the internet when you’re recuperating. I discovered this during the past week when I was largely immobile after surgery on my knee. The iPad I’d wondered if I’d ever really need proved to be a godsend. I did mail, surfed and played Word with my family and my former assistant friend now living…
Read MoreReasons to Smile: People Who Are Making a Difference
Right this very moment, my long-time friend the Reverend Scott Alexander, is bicycling through the range lands of Oklahoma on a trip from Pacific to Atlantic that has, so far, included grueling temperatures–both hot and cold–long ascents and descents over majestic mountains, raging thunderstorms, and distances of over a hundred miles a day. Who does…
Read MoreSunday Poetry: The Unrestrained Innocence of Your Intentions
Welcome to Sunday Poetry. If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here. From my Facebook page, some of you know I had surgery this week on a recalcitrant knee and am now in full recovery mode. For fun I decided to see if I could find…
Read MoreLists: Mysteries That Haunt Me
Life is just filled with unanswered questions, isn’t it? Some people see the world as one big mystery. They might be content the’ve found part of an explanation, but they are always certain a complete answer is hovering just outside their reach. “Sure, after careful research I built my house out of stone, but now I…
Read MoreThe Write Way: The Secret Writing Life of Author Diane Chamberlain
A warm welcome to Diane Chamberlain and many thanks for her willingness to share writing tips today. I’ve interviewed Diane at Southern Exposure before, but today Diane has agreed to talk more specifically about the way she writes. Her newest book The Good Father just arrived at bookstores, so I thought it would be fun…
Read MoreSunday Poetry: One Woman Trusts Herself with Treasure
Welcome to Sunday Poetry. If this is your first visit you can read about the purpose and inspiration of my Sunday poetry blogs here. Today’s poem, Her Head, by poet Joan Murray, celebrates the courage and strength of women. Since I’m presently reading Cutting for Stone, set in Ethiopia, this had particular resonance for me. It’s a reminder…
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