Using a suggestion from Erin today: When growing up did your family share your love of books? If so, did one person get you into reading? And, do you have any family-oriented memories with books and reading? (Family trips to bookstore, reading the same book as a sibling or parent, etc.) I think “indoctrination” is absolutely the right word to describe my experience. Reading is definitely a family tradition for me. Both my parents have […]
An overcast morning, which makes a primarily easterly commute much easier on the eyes Late-summer “light” traffic (by L.A. standards, anyway) that reduces said commute to under an hour (assuming no serious accidents like the one this past Monday) A new manicure that hasn’t chipped yet – it’s been 14 hours and some of them were spent sleeping, but you’d have to understand my bad luck with nail polish to know how much I appreciate […]
These legal laughers come from the book Disorder in the Court: Great Fractured Moments in Courtroom History, and were part of an e-mail I got from a friend earlier today. Be glad you weren’t one of the court reporters who had to stay calm and record it while these exchanges were actually taking place. And to think I once intended to go to law school… ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?WITNESS: No, I just lie there.—————————————————————ATTORNEY: […]
Some reading that will lead you to more reading, if that’s your thing: Instead Of Three Wishes: Magical Short Stories (1995) is a collection of seven fantasy children’s stories by Megan Whalen Turner. “A Plague Of Leprechaun” “Leroy Roachbane” “Factory” “Aunt Charlotte And The NGA Portaits” “Instead Of Three Wishes” “The Nightmare” “The Baker King” Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts […]
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Well, honestly, it’s probably some of both, but I prefer to play up the “what” over the “who” because I am a miserable networker. I’m not unfriendly or antisocial (usually); I’m an introvert. Many of the personality traits of introverts are me in a nutshell, such as: · Desire private space and time· Are happy to be alone – can be lonely in a crowd· Become […]
Since I’m trying to cultivate more positivity in my life, and particularly as far as work’s concerned, I wasn’t sure I was going to write for this week’s topic. But it’s too hard not to. As usual for me, this isn’t in any particular order. The commute – but I haven’t yet found similar work I can do closer to home The perpetual sense of crisis The pervasive low-level anxiety The way it seems that […]
The Kite RunnerKhaled Hosseini I bought this book over a year ago, in anticipation of its being a selection for my book club, but the member who was going to pick it ended up dropping out, and I just wasn’t motivated to pick it up until another member of the club chose it for our meeting this week. Despite the fact that everyone I know who has read this book loved it, I’ve been rather […]
It’s a little more challenging to get into the gratitude mindset when it’s taken two hours to get to work on a Monday morning, after a night of sleeping poorly, but here we go: I’m glad it didn’t take me three hours to get to work.I’m glad I signed up for the traffic-alert phone calls on Traffic.com.I’m glad L.A. radio has stations that do traffic updates every 5-10 minutes, even if it means I have […]
Reflecting at the end of the weekend, I’m grateful for some people and things: My husband, who vacuumed, dusted, did laundry, and cleaned off the patio todayMy son, who calls his mom in Southern California to ask her to check the weather radar for Washington DC, where he’s headed to a baseball game (the Nats lost)My apartment, which is nice and clean (I did the chores Tall Paul didn’t do)My job, where I have two […]
At the risk of sounding like a bad blurb in an ad, Hairspray may be the most fun we’ve had at the movies this year. I grew up with a weakness for musicals, and while Hairspray comes up short on what I consider one of the big qualifications for a classic of the genre – songs that can stand apart from the narrative – it’s still a fine example of why the form never quite […]
Things I’m grateful for today and every day: Tall PaulMy stepchildren, the Tall Kids, who will be back from Camp Grandma this weekend and back in school a week from WednesdayMy son, not so tall and not such a kid anymore, who has a job that uses his degree, his own apartment, and a nice girlfriend three months out of college (although he’s actually had the girlfriend longer than that)My mother-in-law, operator of the aforementioned […]
Along the lines of Wednesday’s post, I’m going to try finding five things I’m grateful for every day. I may not post them every day, and they won’t be in any sort of rank order when I do list them here. Today I have these: My husband, who makes me laugh, likes baseball, and actually reads my blog (but that’s not why I listed him first ;-)!)Friday, and not much planned for this weekendFeeling a […]
