Some days are harder than others.  Sometimes we feel older than our years.  At some point the routine weighs more heavily, the responsibilities seem more onerous.  Bad news arrives from a distance of both years and space, little moments that remind us of our own mortality catch us off our guard, the slog of the day-to-day seems unrelenting.

I am ( Read more... )

I was never a huge fan of Whitney Houston's music -- I was into a different sound, a different style.  But I was always, always a fan of her voice.  Tonight, we were watching the opening moments of the Grammy's, and they played a clip of Whitney singing at the awards ceremony back in the early nineties.  And watching her, listening to her, my older ( Read more... )

This was dance weekend in our home and our little town.  Both my daughters take dance lessons throughout the school year, and their annual recital was on Saturday afternoon.  The younger one takes tap and ballet; the older one takes tap and jazz.  So both of them had two performances in the recital, and both of them did great.  Nancy and I were ( Read more... )

Today's post, "Tragedy and the Writer," can be found at http://magicalwords.net.  Please visit the site and add your voice to the discussion.

Tim Russert was never my favorite journalist.  I always respected his intellect, but I often found myself thinking that he was too hard on the politicians I liked and not hard enough on those I didn't.  On the other hand, I know plenty of people on the other side of the political divide who felt exactly the same way, so he must have been doing ( Read more... )

I've just got nothing today, folks.  I'm sitting here thinking that I need to post, that I could write about today's work, or the craziness already overtaking the election season ("Terrorist fist jab"?  I just can't get over that one), or the dinner party we just attended, or any number of other things.

I spent the afternoon writing condolence ( Read more... )

Today's my Dad's birthday.  He would have been 88.  It's been eleven years since we lost him and I still think about him every day.  And each time I do, the memory of him brings a smile to my face ( Read more... )