West Side Story In another lifetime I lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The streets were funkier, gentrification on the rise, decades past the time and setting of the movie musical I love. I know pretty much every word to every song, and one of the cheap thrills of watching the new … [Read more...] about The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Stories begging to be told
Tell anyone you’re a writer and inevitably you hear these words—Oh do I have a story to tell! If only I knew how to get it all down. Maybe I could tell it to you and you could write it for me. “Writing isn’t particularly different from hibernation,” observes the polar bear/narrator in Yoko … [Read more...] about Stories begging to be told
Happenstance
Early morning, barely awake and jet-lagged, a word pops into my head: Happenstance, a poetic mingling of chance and circumstance. I do think there’s an order to the universe. I don’t think everything happens for a reason, but any unwelcome circumstance foisted on us, once we get past the anger … [Read more...] about Happenstance
My Father’s Voice
It’s a sunny Father’s Day and my husband (thousands of miles from his daughter) is busy making the hill next to our house beautiful. Planting. Weeding. Watering. I'm on the deck watching. In the background is the perfect CD for the moment, Keith Jarrett, Bye Bye Blackbird. The title song is one I … [Read more...] about My Father’s Voice