Other People

In which you will discover that other people occasionally visit my planet — however unwillingly or unwittingly.

Our Memories Become Theirs

by Elizabeth Howard • June 18, 2013

At the beginning of my parenting experience, I said “no” often. The noise and the mess was a lot to handle. Not to mention the plain issue of just keeping track of where all the little live bodies were in…

by Elizabeth Howard • June 9, 2013

Creating is not remembering… It is to look and to hear and to write — without remembering. It is the immediate feelings arranged in words as they occur to me.” — Gertrude Stein We are all in our ruts, our…

by Elizabeth Howard • April 15, 2013

A friend of mine posted a question of Facebook asking: Those of you who were elementary schoolers in the late 70s and 80s: Could you please share a few books that you read then that meant a lot to you?…

by Elizabeth Howard • March 15, 2013

Today’s Scintilla prompt… Talk about a time when you were driving and you sang in the car, all alone. Why do you remember this song and that stretch of road? sent me back immediately to a moment in time, October…

by Elizabeth Howard • March 10, 2013

I submit to you this broken heart. A year ago, I (unintentionally!) kicked a little snowball down a snowy hill, and I discovered how cold and mean life can be. I am awfully terrible at telling personal stories, and since…

by Elizabeth Howard • January 24, 2013

Yesterday one of my oldest friends called me… from the “inside.” Well, to put it more clearly, she called from an inpatient psych ward. My friend and I have known each other now as long as we have not known…

by Elizabeth Howard • January 18, 2013

I am fully aware that it is a bit ironic that I write a BLOG with the word “letters” in the title. Is it a misnomer? Maybe… Originally my blog was “Letters from London (and Elsewhere)” and it was really…

by Elizabeth Howard • January 9, 2013

Today is wrote a small stone called “The Time.” I wrote it for two reasons. First, because I notice I had about 11 minutes before the kids had to leave to go to school. The kids were happily engaged in…

by Elizabeth Howard • January 1, 2013

Hey, before we kick 2012 to the curb and rush headlong into our resolutions, I’m just wondering: What did you like BEST about 2012? You can reply in the comments, or on Facebook. But I’d really like you to write…

by Elizabeth Howard • December 31, 2012

The person I most dig, admire, croon after, and just all-around want to brain-pick (for the year 2012) is Maria Popova. In case you haven’t gotten any of my many nudgings about her awesomely curated website Brain Pickings, here’s another one. Her…

by Elizabeth Howard • December 23, 2012

In the next week, you’ll likely ponder, and then make, New Year’s resolutions. Yes, you’ll break them eventually, and that is what I’d like to mention. The root word for “resolution” is the word “resolve.” This is a beautiful word. As a verb, it means ”to…

by Elizabeth Howard • December 4, 2012

Here’s a post today from a writer and poet that I love, Kelly Letky, also known as “Mrs. Mediocrity” and “The Blue Muse.” This poem is called “Decadence.” (click to read it) Kelly posts her poetry with original photography. This…

by Elizabeth Howard • November 27, 2012

Trying to come up with a single small kindness to write about today for Fiona’s blogsplash has been one of the more difficult writing assignments I have been given in a while. Some of you know me, and so know…

by Elizabeth Howard • November 24, 2012

I stopped by Nick and Heather’s house yesterday to drop off a tablespoon of bourbon for a truffle recipe Nick was making. I asked Nick what he made for his family Thanksgiving. “I made this delicious farro recipe. Want to…

by Elizabeth Howard • September 20, 2012

These are my “home shoes.” I don’t mean slippers or anything like that. What I mean is: when I am wearing this shoe configuation — ie. tennis shoes and blue jeans — I feel “home.” It’s a cultural thing. And…