Today is the one-year anniversary of the Fuchsia Woman Blog: America Commentary with a Kick! Yeah! (I have enough shoes. I’m sure I’ll think up something else to buy to commemorate this auspicious occasion. [I’d like to buy back my “before the change” brain. See my “menopausal blogs” for that story…) In the last year [...]
As I’ve mentioned before, when I tell people I blog, they tell me they’d like to blog. That’s the same reaction as when I used to tell people I write books. They would say they’d like to write a book, too. That TELLS ME that people WANT TO BE HEARD. I know I do… The [...]
Last week I heard a comment from Arianna Huffington about the rise of incivility on her blog site and the Internet in general. So much so that the Huffington Post bought a company to monitor her site and block offensive comments—including using words like Nazi, moron, and empty suit. I’m not sure of the exact [...]
WOW—how ironic that an example of bad writing comes from a well-known daily e-newsletter that sings the praises of great/memorable writing. Last Saturday’s Writer’s Almanac was badly written. I’m guessing that the staff decided to let a summer intern (high school student?) take a shot at writing the newsletter. They must think their readers are [...]
As mentioned in the Writer’s Almanac, yesterday was Joyce Carol Oates 72nd birthday. It said the book that influenced her writing most was Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The reason was “she loved how Alice was calm and rational when facing nightmarish situations.” Alice left a BIG impression on me as a child as [...]
I can’t be the only writer out there that questions his/her act of writing. The why? The value? The time? The internal disappointment? The external grief? But most of all, the TOTAL VACUUM. At this point in my ‘esteemed writing career,’ I am pretty much writing for myself. I have no audience, let alone “fans.” [...]
[Part 2 of a 2-Part Series. Part 1: 4/28/10] This morning on the radio (the Diane Rehm Show) author Isabelle Allende said something that reminded me of something Anne Lamott said last month at a book reading in Petaluma. Anne said, “I write what I care about.” Isabelle said, “I write everything that I care [...]
Mark Twain died 100 years ago today. He predicted his own death. In 1909 he said: “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s Comet. [...]
When I was little, I overheard my Dad talking to the Black-Haired Spaghetti (subject of several previous blogs) about Frank Sinatra—as in “Frank and Mia,” who were in town for a golf tournament. My Dad said Frank said, “Hell hath no fury like a hooker with a literary agent.” He chuckled at that statement. I [...]
A few weeks ago an article appeared on the front page of the San Jose Mercury News. And it’s bugged me ever since. The article was titled: “Cursive’s Days Numbered.” It stated that handwriting—as a subject taught in California schools and as a useful tool in navigating one’s life— is biting the dust. Schools used [...]
