POWELL’s

  I love Powell's Book Store, well, of course I do! What's not to love about a book store that shelves used and new books, the largest book store in the United States. (Perhaps still the largest in the world?) May the store continue to thrive. Founded in the 70s, the store was relatively good …

ASSIGNMENT #2: Lost

In Brevity 22, Fall 2006, Brian Arundel's "The Things I’ve Lost" begins "Fleece hat and gloves: in the backseat of a Boston cab in 2002, before driving back to Maine. Round, purple sunglasses: in an Atlanta pool hall over drinks with Ashby, whose wife was determined to save their marriage by having a baby. A measurable dose …

BREAD

We have all our mail through this past Thursday. I baked bread the next day. We're still getting our early walks, but there are unfamiliar people and dogs on the beach today. Yesterday the gale force wind was desperately chilling in the morning. Today is mild. So. Walking, baking, writing, and staying safe. This morning …

An oldie but goodie

A plane has five passengers on board: Donald Trump, the Pope, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Hillary Clinton, and Greta Thunberg. The plane is about to crash and there are only 4 parachutes. Dr Fauci says “I need one! I have to develop a vaccine to cure Covid-19!” He takes a parachute and jumps. The Pope says …

BLUETONGUE

Almost 40 years ago, a friend was working on the bluetongue virus at Colorado State. Though this work was done in a lab with masks and gloves and all the protocol of any university lab researching a disease, albeit one only infecting sheep at the time, there was an issue. Routine screening revealed that she …

Margaret and Helen

“Are you high, sir? Or are you just making this shit up?” Posted by: Helen Philpot | March 28, 2020 I’d give anything to ask Trump this question about cheesecake… #COVIDIOT #ConronaUpdate #2Trillion we Margaret, they passed a $2.2 trillion dollar stimulus package. For years we’ve complained about failing schools, homelessness, hunger, affordable healthcare, clean water, …

CLOSED & CAREFUL

Yesterday morning we drove to Cannon Beach to pick up our mail. We had not gone anywhere other than walking the beach for over 12 days (the last time Gary picked up the mail), but we had spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at used CDs (Gary) and bidding on scraps of kimono silk …

#1 REVISION

Okay. Maybe you've written a fable of about 500 words, one that you might even have typed and fits single-spaced on a single page. Or maybe you did something else. Maybe you followed the rules, or maybe you didn't. Whatever. This is not a test of your ability to follow instructions. It's time to try …

The Mentalist: Reward and Routine

Getting through a national crisis might be a little crazy like a police consultant following instinct and impression or it might be orderly like completing a knitted pair of socks. Maybe it's a little of both. I have one sock of a pair in the works, knit top down. The leg part is done, the …

update covid19+writing

I am moving all mention of the pandemic to a separate file on my website. Look for "covid19" in the menu at the top of my page. In the mean time, I am working on my fable.