Sue-Ann Pederson gave birth hard, on a cracked linoleum floor, beige and black.  When her son popped out, the toaster oven on the counter by the fridge rang, indicating the bread was ready for its oleo-margarine, cinnamon not far behind.  Sue-Ann sang out, … Read full post »

     Ding had the white-blond hair of a forest elf, which lay across his brow like a dove's wing.  He was constantly tossing his head to the right, flipping it out of his eyes, which were the pale blue of the melting ice shelves hanging over the turn of the creek… Read full post »

So we went to The Crucible in Oakland the weekend before Christmas to take some classes. 

The morning was spent doing glass flameworking.  Basically, we were heating plexiglass 'blanks' and 'sticks' over a propane/oxy flame.  First, we tried to make a basic marble.  You oughta se… Read full post »

Inspired by Pam Epstein, I was in a fun Antique store a couple weekends ago - in Santa Rosa, the railroad district, Stellaa! - and picked up this postcard:

Now, aside from the interesting context - we all know about spooning, I guess, it's Really interesting to me that it… Read full post »

It's typical morning rush hour on 101 Southbound.  Four lanes, one for carpools and buses.  Me trying to maneuver over to the second from the left, a calculated guess as to which will be the "good" lane. 

 Also typical:  Bright sunshine overhead, this far north, rockin' the… Read full post »

So, yeah, that line ain't working for me now.  The girls just roll their eyes and say, Mmm-hmmmm.....

 Nutshell:

 Went home to Kansas weekend before last for my Dad's 80th Birthday Party, which I was hosting.  My girls and I flew in Thursday afternoon.  The party was Friday e… Read full post »

Going to Kansas City!

Kansas City, here I come!      &nb… Read full post »

"For what can be more beautiful than the heavens, which contain all beautiful things."

                                   &nbs… Read full post »

What the hell is going on here?

Whither the rage?

Wherefore art the… Read full post »

           Happy Birthday, Dear T'eo, Happy Birthday to You! Read full post »

My local movie house is doing a film series called "The Films of My Life", ala François Truffaut's "The Films in My Life".  To quote the cinema's website:  "This series emphasizes the emotional connection between the participants and the works they select."  

  &n… Read full post »

I'm all for the Truthiness Doctrine.

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However....

Two Truths/One Lie:

1.  I first flew a plane at age 18.

2.  I had a small character based on me in a mystery novel set in Key West.

3.  I was once clinically dead for 3.7 minutes. Read full post »

 Well, last night we went to see "Earth", the 99-minute pseudo compilation via Disney of an epic BBC work called Planet Earth from… Read full post »

Y'all know my predilection by now for sound, and mu… Read full post »

I like Sky.  Always have.  Everwhere I go, I'm shooting the sky, for one reason or another.

Big ol' comforting mountains, north of Durango, last July. 

                 &nbs… Read full post »

As you may remember, I traveled to Vegas Alone in February because the Children would not behave.    http://open.salon.com/blog/conniemack/2009/02/25/its_vegas_baby

They're again off in April (why don't the teachers want to Teach?) and I'm torn.  Should I re-do the Vegas route - w… Read full post »

 For those of you in the ShiKaGo (Chicago) area a couple of days after St. Pat's Day, here's a cool party.  Free drinks!  Complimentary copies of the new issue!  7 - 9 p.m.  To attend, email:  rsvp@stopsmilingonline.com.

 I dunno if that rsvp thingie a… Read full post »

So, I'm over to the Farmer's Market - you know the one a couple of blocks behind your office,

Get me some wasabi almonds, some hickory almonds, some… Read full post »

I grew up reading the classics.  Ma made sure of that.  Well, she had them on her bookshelf.  And thence I  trod.  But when poetry is twined with music or movies or both - then I really feel it.

Who can forget the end of Sophie's Choice?  That poem by… Read full post »

                      Yeah, it's the old P-BEM!

                        &n… Read full post »

                     Escape from Mundanity

So it's a Beauty day on the Bay, after multiple days of pounding rain.  I figure, Gee, it's going to be easy to get to Las Vegas!

I w… Read full post »

 Stop Smiling is this wonderful magazine I've been hooked up with for a couple years now.

 I couldn't figure out how to insert a doc or a .pdf or any damn thing into email, so I'll post this for/to the Chicagoans who might be able to attend:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~… Read full post »

   or...

 So I'm reading some tax code junk, some policy behind the Investment Company Act (I swear, it's for work; Updike this is not... and yet....) and I have to go t0:

§ 80a–43. Jurisdiction of offenses and suits

and I… Read full post »

SO, this is the kinda fun you're having when not running a restaurant (or terrorizing Glens)?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWU0bfo-bSY Read full post »

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) (Mayan: kakaw, Nahuatl: Cacahuatl), or the cocoa plant, is a small (4–8 m or 15–26 ft tall) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. [source - Wiki]

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All's… Read full post »