Only In America
That knee-jerk patriotism was taken away from my generation in our youth. But the world teaches us about America. In Print
Father
My Dad has been dead for almost 20 years. That sounds shocking, even to me. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about him, especially this last year. Father figured prominently into my show Big Words. So here’s that piece, for Father’s Day. In Print
How to Cook
I never know when to expect it or what it will be but every now and then I am possessed in the kitchen. I’ve learned to just go with it and it’s a lot of weird fun. In Print.
Bogie
My first Bogie period began in 1973, at Berkeley. It didn’t seem weird at the time, running around in Birkenstock’s and being crazy about that well-suited guy. I went through a lot of the oeuvre again at the beginning of the century (my, doesn’t that ooze with scope.) It’s amazing how different the cigarette smoke looks to us, isn’t it? But otherwise…there’s still a beguiling rhythm and charm. In Print
Frazzle
I’m bringing back Frazzle–a character I’ve been living with for many years and especially through this creative process. I finally found out his name when I was listening to Lotte Streisinger—potter, printmaker and author—reading from her recent book on the creative process. (The Potter and the Muse, 2006, Kalliope Press, available at The Museum of Contemporary Craft in
Living in the Moment
My Mother has been slipping further into the fog of dementia for a long time now. This is a Mother’s Day greeting. You can read the whole post here.
Mensch
Time to laugh a little bit. And goodness knows, computer dating requires a sense of humor. Doesn’t everything?
The View from Auschwitz Birkenau
I’m still thinking about my recent 5 weeks in Europe. The trip was motivated, in part, by my desire to visit The Stutthof Concentration Camp, where my Grandmother and Aunt were prisoners. My family lost 59 members in the Holocaust—these two survived.
In March, I posted audio and print versions of The Stutthof: a question and an answer. (The links are repaired.) This piece about my visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau pressed forward just in time for Yom Hashoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 20 this year. (Jews call the Holocaust “The Shoah”—which means the catastrophe in Hebrew.) Some impressions. in print.
Truth
This was a piece in last fall’s show–Big Words. How many hats these big words wear. They are still changing on me. Find it also in print.
Oh, You Rogue!
As we renew and freshen into spring it might be good to remember that not all good things come in shiny packages. For one thing we’re not getting any younger, but I do think we get better, if we’re willing. You can teach an old car new tricks.