In some ways, my own silence on the issues of the past several weeks has surprised me. I have a reputation for writing about feminist issues—by which I mean anything that pertains to the notion that women are entitled to the same inalienable human rights that men are.… Read full post »

 Winter 2010-2011

 

 

 

Mud Season 2011

Out of Mud Comes Life: Spring 2011

 

… Read full post »

Is there anything that Tina Brown has helmed that hasn't immediately turned to dross? Forgetting everything she has done in the past, let's just talk about what has happened to venerable Newsweek.

I'm old enough to remember when news analysis on a weekly basis meant three choices: Time, U.S. News… Read full post »

I had to go to the mall yesterday to pick up a prescription. I loathe the mall, and yet, I find myself there fairly frequently. It's not the closest place to find necessities, but it's the only place to find certain necessities--last night, it was plastic insulation for the windows.… Read full post »

By now, you've heard the story of the high school student who is being harassed by Governor Brownback to apologize to him for disparaging him in a tweet. 

Other than the obvious problem of a grown man, a politican, being upset with a high school student because she said something… Read full post »

Crooks and Liars is reporting that 19-year old Jennifer Fox, who was beaten and sprayed last Thursday at the same OWS demonstration in which an 84-year old woman was sprayed, miscarried her three-month fetus on Sunday.

As someone who lost a three-month pregnancy, I am broken-hearted for this young w… Read full post »

Image by Robert Stiene (Well, not all of it, obviously)

 Anyone who has been on Facebook in the past 24 hours has seen the images: famous works of art with the iconic image of the pepper spray-wielding UC Davis police officer who blasted the protesters in the face. 

Friends… Read full post »

As someone who must take a combination of antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds to control the uncontrollable in my body, I refuse to consider myself a drug addict. 

And I find myself, once again, wondering why there is such stigma in needing to take these drugs.When I saw the EP-award winning a… Read full post »

Forsythia is a beautiful word. Say it slowly and sense the number of times your mouth and lips have to change position. Feel the frication.

Forsythia is among the first signs of spring here. Before the trillium appear, about the same time as the trout lillies are struggling out of… Read full post »

On October 18, 1917, 94 years ago, my great-grandfather died in the trenches of France.

Each year at this time, I write about him. 

In the summer of 2010, Rob and I journeyed to northern France. We walked the Cimitiere Americaine, where this photo was taken. 

To walk amongst… Read full post »

     

Neruda spoke to me.

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps…

I wanted to… Read full post »

 

In 1996, I suffered a second-trimester spontaneous abortion, (miscarriage). It ranks as one of the worst experiences of my life, losing a fetus that was hoped for, longed for, and for whom a future had been imagined.

Next week, Mississippi votes on a “personhood” amendment that w… Read full post »

In 2003, I was a few days past my 40th birthday, out of work, a writer who couldn’t seem to get published, a mother who didn’t have custody of her children, a woman who frequently did not eat meals because she was completely out of money. Did I mention my two… Read full post »

As if we needed more proof that the culture wars are NOT over, the House of Representatives passed the ironically titled "Protect Life Act" last night, rather than deal with the issues of joblessness, hunger, homelessness, and general economic misery.

Under the Protect Life Act, which passed the Ho… Read full post »

I spent the entire Bush years pissed off. Too many forces were at work seeking to deprive me, and the people I love, of basic civil rights. In recent articles, this month in Harper's, Thomas Frank, and again, Thursday, by Tana Ganeva in Salon, cultural observers have sought to… Read full post »

In November of 1980, I was a college freshman. I had spent the entire summer prior to college working on a congressional campaign. It was exciting work, and I met many "famous" politicians, got to hobnob with political movers and shakers. I was young,… Read full post »

Once again, pharmacists have been given the option of deciding which medicines they choose to dispense.

Pharmacists in Illinois were told by a judge that they can say "no" to certain pills. And lawmakers in Missouri are attempting to pass a law that would restrict these same medicines.

What… Read full post »

 

I keep a bag stuffed in the under-the-bed plastic bin that I store under the bed I share with Rob. It's a silver-colored, heavy plastic sack, the kind of bag that you get from a clothing store. It must have been one that Yves' mother had… Read full post »

“If you’re really listening, if you’re awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly.”---Andrew Harvey

I have ached for spring these past several weeks. For a couple of days earlier in the week, we were offered respite from a winter that has been… Read full post »

 Emily asks if there have been moments when, as a blogger, I feel that I have revealed too much of myself. The answer is not straightforward.

As a writer, and as a teacher of creative writing, I urge my students and remind myself that putting certain things down on paper… Read full post »

 Ursa Major (the big bear) stealth-rises on the horizon these October nights. My breath condenses in the thirty-degree temperatures as I pull my fleece closer to my body. I crane my neck. No clouds, a quarter, waxing moon casts little light, and the Milky Way wafts a trail… Read full post »

I find myself torn like a rended garment.

The French Parliament voted today, by 246 votes, to ban the wearing of full facial veils and the Burqa in public. Women who are found to be wearing such clothing will be fined 150 Euros for each infraction. Anyone caught compelling a woman… Read full post »

Well, the contentious hearings are on. CNN is reporting live from them, and I noticed that Google News lists 575 articles about hydrofracking, including this one from the Christian Science Monitor.

It seems a good time to remind people why those of us who live here are vehemently opposed to destroyin…

Read full post »

When I was a child, in England, in the North, there was still fireweed growing among the scattered bricks of empty lots. Fireweed is often the first plant to grow after a fire or bombing. It is the scab that covers…

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(Photo from Salon.com. Deep Water Horizon burning.)

I have the air conditioning on. Outside, it's 91 degrees at 1:10 p.m. By late afternoon, especially down on the Commons, it could once again top 100 degrees. 

September 2nd is usually the beginning of autumn here. At night, it should b… Read full post »