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English football
I have to move a scene from Kansas to Kent. Originally it was a Little League game; a parent watching becomes more and more annoyed that the umpire is favoring his own child in his calls. "He's only pretending to be objective! He's like the Supreme Court!" she fumes as she stalks down to confront him ( Read more... ) -
domesticity
When I start to prepare for bed - a lengthy process, as I have certain medical conditions that must be catered to - my oldest dog, Harry, comes into the bedroom and lies on the blue-and-gold rug, eyes closed, quietly aware in that way dogs are as I move in and out of the bathroom. There is another canine in the house, but she is already dozing in ( Read more... ) -
the long shadows of early evening
I am in West Orange, New Jersey. To most of you out there, this is like saying, “I am in Boring Suburb, Boring State.” But I grew up in Jersey and went to college in New York, and there is a time-travel element to returning at my age. Last evening, just before the sun went down, when the shadows were long and kind, I drove through my old ( Read more... ) -
WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY AND TRANSFORMATION: FINAL PART
Earlier parts begin here.PART SIX: MY BODY’S COUP D’ETAT. THE NEW RULES ( Read more... ) -
WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY AND TRANSFORMATION: Continued
Part One here.PART TWO: THE FUCKING SCIENCE ( Read more... ) -
WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY AND TRANSFORMATION: An Essay In Several Parts
In December 2014 I had weight-loss surgery. People have been curious -- why do it? What does it entail? Couldn't you just diet and exercise? Indeed, a certain number of my questioners have little idea what “weight-loss surgery” means (why should they) and assume I somehow had 130 pounds of fat surgically removed. (One asked me if I “felt ( Read more... ) -
books in which the universe is not what you thought
I have, since childhood, made it a point of honor to accept an author's work on the terms it is given. In fact, it may not be so much a point of honor as my natural direction as an audience ( Read more... ) -
the airports of my life
I write you from LAX, where my flight has been delayed. I was overcome by chargeaphobia, the fear that my phone and Kindle and laptop would run out of electricity, so I paid to use the lounge. Today's airports: where you have to get out your wallet in order to sit down comfortably. (I also made a panicked purchase of magazines, in case of ( Read more... ) -
Brideshead -- Revisited, Recalled, Rediscovered
I have a great many chores to do in the morning, some dealing with the dogs and some with the ridiculous number of non-urgent but necessary medical problems that need tending. Recently I was listening to Thich Nhat Hanh's The Miracle of Mindfulness, in which he advised doing chores in the moment, without letting your mind wander into the future so ( Read more... ) -
my life in television
The blogs are so much emptier than they once were. Like a grand and noble house, now full of empty rooms and furniture with blue striped dust covers. And yet I think the blog form is quite perfect for a writer. Let others move on to new partners; I will revolve through the fading ballrooms, embracing ghostly, perhaps nonexistent readers ( Read more... )