I love wearing stripes. A lot of my clothes are striped. I thought this was “just me”, until I started shopping at Cut Loose outlet in the Mission district a few years ago. There I found myself in company with a lot of women (in the shared dressing room), who also shared what could be … Continue reading The tourist returned…
It’s 6:30am. I’ve been in France almost three weeks, half a week to go. I’m a walking illustration of so many of the Buddha’s teachings. (greed, hatred and delusion, or, if you prefer, lust, aversion, and confusion). You’d think it would drive me to a buddhist nunnery. I don’t think it will. Buddhism as a … Continue reading Beds and bird poop…
The joke goes like this. Woman driver: Geez, there are so many cars. Why does there have to be so much traffic? Four year old daughter from the back seat: But mommy, we’re traffic. Here’s the thing. Uzes (pronounced ou-zez) is beautiful. Though I’d never heard of it before planning this trip, it’s clearly been … Continue reading Perfect. Not perfect.
My friend, Montserrat and I walked, climbed, and strolled the cobblestoned streets, exploring Dinan (and Mont St. Michel), when we weren’t busy eating. Which we were, a lot. Our last afternoon in Dinan we got into an animated conversation with two French couples sitting next to us at the Crepe Restaurant, where we, Montsie and … Continue reading Meeting my young self in France…
I couldn’t possibly pack all I might need. Then I can’t even find what I did pack. Especially when I’m not staying in one place. My friend Montserrat and I spent our first glorious French night in Rennes. Packing to leave Rennes, I forgot my hair dryer there. Our airbnb host was nice enough to … Continue reading Sex, Lies, and France (eating & walking & eating & remembering… in France)
Yes! Of course I’m excited. After all, I have the good fortune to be taking a big trip to France. A kind of “dream” vacation. My dream. Still I feel the need to proclaim the truth of my anxiety. Allow it to be, so I can let it go, or maybe it can let go … Continue reading Crossing the great Atlantic…
“Writing is also an important bulwark against chaos… I have to write to come to terms with experience in one way and another.” Oliver Sacks, from Diverse Elements in Harmony And… I always love me some wise, old, young Courtney E. Martin at OnBeing, who writes here about being a writer. * * … Continue reading I Never Wanted to Be a Writer… and a few autobiographical memories.
I have friends who are threatening to leave the country if Trump gets elected. I don’t actually think they will, but I understand the impulse, the feeling of “not belonging” to a country that would elect such a man to the Presidency. There was a lot of that feeling with Bush, but not quite as … Continue reading Trump would not be a pogrom you could leave behind, and other refugee stories…
We’ve been hearing about global warming and its threat to our very existence for quite a few years now. The science is in. Yet, creationist naysayers and greed-driven corporateers — in the most unholy of alliances — obfuscate the reality, thereby blocking a time-sensitve appropriate human response. That’s the back drop to our human saga … Continue reading Anxiety, and the perilousness of our times…
“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” wrote Charles M. Blow in a NY Times article titled “Activists ‘Feel the Bern’?”, referring to some liberals’ responses to Black Lives Matter interrupting two Bernie Sanders rallies . I consider the depth (or shallowness?) of my good will. … Continue reading Through a Glass Darkly…
Gayle Markow: As I am... 