Somewhere in my middle sixties, I began to realize that I might be nearing “late middle age”. (Call me a late bloomer!) Instead of lamenting the passage of time, I began to realize that with age come certain advantages, more freedom, less worry about what others think – and the time-honored perks of more leisure … Read more
Most people who were around at the time remember exactly where they were when they heard about the terrorist attacks of 9-11-2001. I do. Art and I were at home in California, and Art’s parents were visiting. We were all in the living room and had finished our breakfast. We turned on the Today show, … Read more
Years ago, when I was going through a dry spell as a songwriter, I stumbled upon a book by Julia Cameron called The Artist’s Way. It is a 12-step program for recovering artists. This book gave me some very practical tools for opening my (sometimes blocked) creative channels. For a long time, it was my … Read more
One of my favorite crackpot theories is my theory of the Warranty. This one came to me in a flash about ten years ago. Here’s the theory: When we are born we are like new cars; shiny, perfect, unblemished, and full of promise. Apart from the occasional childhood illness (measles, mumps, stomach virus), most of … Read more
I was leafing through yet another catalog the other day – L.L. Bean? Land’s End? J. Crew – No, I don’t get J. Crew – I don’t know. They all start to look the same – Meaning no disrespect to the creative people who dreamt up all those charming little accoutrements, but here’s the thing: … Read more
I was thinking about marriage the other day, and thinking about what it is and what it is not. I am amazed, as a woman in my “second act”, to compare notes with the younger woman I was at 23. Very little of what I thought then remains with me now on the subject of … Read more
A few years ago Art and I rented, “Like Water For Chocolate”, a Latin-American fantasy-realism kind of a tale in which the star-crossed lovers are thwarted by an evil matriarch who insists that the youngest daughter remain unmarried and serve her mother all her life. In the early part of the movie, the girl and … Read more
It all began on a beautiful day in May. I had fed our kitties outside in their “kitty room”, a sort of makeshift shelter consisting mostly of white lattice work wood and a fiberglass roof attached to the side porch of our house. The kitties have a pet door that leads them out there from … Read more
My mother taught me never to talk about religion or politics in mixed company. In fact, she taught me never to talk about religion or politics at all! It always leads to big arguments. It ruins friendships, wrecks marriages, and nobody ever gets converted. To put it another way, as Art and I have so … Read more
There is no problem that can’t be solved over a cup of tea. Art and I have been sipping tea together now for about thirty years. There is tea every morning with breakfast, and usually, another cup of tea in the afternoon. We both like it with milk (the preferred British way). We prefer Irish … Read more