Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading about the Jewish influence on early comic strips and comic books all week long, but for some reason I felt compelled to try making challah today. This will be accompanied later by a hearty beef and cabbage and carrot stew. Can’t wait!
I said early this year that I wanted to try a poem in heroic couplets. I’ve been meaning to get to it for weeks, but I’ve been doing a lot of writing on my book (I finished a draft of a chapter last week– that means I’m four down, 2–maybe 3– to go!) and so […]
Some ruminations on public speaking, as well as the text of a talk I gave yesterday on a recent book I edited, Freedom’s Witness: The Civil War Correspondence of Henry McNeal Turner.
Here’s a valentine to the sonnet form by Catherine Chandler, from her book Glad and Sorry Seasons, “reprinted” online in Verse Daily, and shared by Jane Satterfield. I am glad this poem finally found me– I hope you are glad it has found you! Enjoy! Sonnet Love I love the way its rhythm and its […]
… Yeah, a helluva town– if hell froze over! The windchill this morning was -4. That’s right– four degrees below zero. I’ve spent the better part of this week in NYC, doing research at the storied New York Public Library. It’s my first time doing research here, even though I am currently well into writing […]
I have just passed the midpoint of my sabbatical– it’s hard to believe it’s half over, but also hard to believe I still have half of it left! This blog was intended to document my sabbatical year, and I suppose it’s as good a time as any to take a step back, see what I […]
Over the holidays, my dog Lucy got very, very sick. After seeming oddly uninterested in food for a few days, on Christmas Eve she threw up everything– food, treats, water– all over the house. We put her on a fast for 36 hours, and she seemed better. By the Monday after Christmas she was eating […]
Originally posted on bookconscious:
I’ve been writing The Mindful Reader column for The Concord Monitor since April 2012. Thirty-three columns, one a month on the Sunday book page, reviewing dozens of books, all by New Hampshire or northern New England authors, many published by small presses. It’s been a wonderful experience. People often stop me…
Holidays are a time to reconnect with family and friends–and to share new ideas. Here are some of the things people shared with me: some cool sonnets, haiku about climate change, and a poem called “Soul’s Tinsel” that isn’t about the holidays at all.
I just happened to be listening to Fresh Air on NPR the other day, and heard part of her interview with John Cleese. He made an interesting comment about the difference between mimicry–which he described as clever, but lacking in power–and what is actually “funny.” He told an anecdote about meeting up with Peter Sellers […]
