Three Little Words

He had no idea the maelstrom of emotion that would blow in behind one short, declarative sentence.  On a day when I was supposed to get a make over at the Clinique counter, with a particular interest in the “Dark Circle Corrector” and a new, natural look, which for me is code for “get out of the 80s”, but I cancelled due to too many competing demands for my squeezed-into-two-precious-days life now, I went to the gym instead. The gym was just one entry on my unrealistic … [Read more...]

Own Your Calling

The man who braved my ice-covered driveway was so quiet the dogs didn’t bark. Shoveling it had become an exercise in futility in the punishing cycle of snow, sub-zero cold, followed by more snow, which has characterized our St. Louis winter. Perhaps the snow muffled the sound of his footsteps, because I didn’t notice either, that someone had come and gone, leaving a large manilla envelope outside my door. Or maybe I was just preoccupied. I was writing a eulogy, on … [Read more...]

This One Moment

It was happening with so much frequency, I finally had to Google it. When all else fails, when our hamster brains stumble at the starting block of deciphering some meteoric message from the universe, as we wander through the fog which has created an impenetrable shield like a cosmic condom over our antennae, when we’ve leveraged all the drug or drink and every meditative pose or prayer we know in pursuit of enlightenment and still we come up empty handed, it’s time to … [Read more...]

He Gave Me Shelter

Social media being the thing we often love to hate, Facebook did serve a purpose in delivering news this week that a good friend of our family had passed away suddenly in Winston-Salem. My daughter in Memphis sent around the news to my now far flung brood and we took turns emailogizing our friend David. While their family begins the slow, unwelcome process of figuring out how life will be without a husband, father, grandfather, brother, I feel so blessed that I … [Read more...]

Twenty Seven

Taillights like domino dots, only red. The anticipation of what a summer night could yield as palpable as the humidity at the intersection of then and now, where I idle. At least there’s a breeze. Windows down, the heat backed off enough to coax me out of my air-conditioned, sensory deprivation pod, arm dangling out the window, hand air surfing, dipping and diving, ribbons of warmth weave through my fingers like batter. Moist. Night. Air. Motown streams from the … [Read more...]

Can You Hear Me in the Back? An interview with Guy Kawasaki

I'm so pleased to share an interview I did a few days ago with Guy Kawasaki, which I published on SheWrites, a great platform for women authors. Guy is THE deal, man. In addition to being an Apple brainiac, he is the author of 12 books, (including Art of the Start, Enchantment-The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions and most recently APE - Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur.) Mostly, he's just a really bright and decent guy, who never realized how he positively … [Read more...]

Holes in Our Hearts and Maybe My Head

**Originally posted, July 2011, Revised July 2013** The sign in front of the Standard Artificial Limbs store always makes me think of my step father.  On the day he died at the VA hospital in Albuquerque, after my mother and I summoned the rest of the family to tell them he’d passed, once everybody took turns patting him on his rapid cooling forehead, we all walked out into the broiling parking lot, the blacktop almost spongy under the August dessert sun, with my … [Read more...]

Never Seen So Many Books

Have you?  Thanks to The Book House for hosting us today. Tony and I talked all about New Mexico, I left and immediately went and bought a taco at Nacho Mama's up the street, home of the drive-through marg.  Note that my foot is firmly planted on Libby's leash. There was a cat in the back room. … [Read more...]

Lure of the mic, uh, I mean “road”

Well... okay, so most people are not tuned in to the radio on Memorial Day Morning, but me and ol' Charlie waxed poetic about the Art of Acceleration. Here's a link if you'd like to give a listen to Off the Leash Behind the Mic on the Charlie Brennan Show.  … [Read more...]

Fresh Picked, Locally Grown, Locally Published

  If you're in the neighborhood, or want to fly in for some strawberries or Kettle Korn, stop by the Webster Groves Farmers Market tomorrow, May 23rd, where my travelin' partner and I will be signing copies of Off the Leash. Well, Libby will be on the leash, otherwise, she'd take off with the first person to offer her a scrap of meat. Look for Libby to be laying on her back, letting people rub her belly. Hell, I might do that if you buy TWO books! Webster Groves … [Read more...]