(This post is a part of the #reverb16… what’s that? Check it out!) Gifts giving and gift receiving is inevitable from here on out until the 25th and beyond. With that in mind, today’s prompt asks us to slow down and consider… Prompt 7: White Elephant: What are the gifts you’re looking forward to giving, or…
One of my favorite things to write about is PEOPLE. I often get the chance to interview people and just ask them: How did you end up here? By “here” I mean right where they are in their lives… doing exactly what they are doing. Cutting hair, owning a bar, running a business + being…
This is a Guest Post by Matt Brotherton, part of the BIG QUESTION series: “What does America Want?“ — I don’t know that I can speak for everyone out there. I’m not sure anyone can define what an entire nation of people really want. The differences between people can be like night and day. Everything…
I agreed with myself that I would write a small stone for Fiona and Kaspa on their wedding day, which was June 18. What with the whirlwhind of (fill in list of excuses here), the entire weekend disappeared somewhere. I didn’t realize that I’d even forgotten until today, driving, I heard Mary Chapin Carpenter singing “Late For…
On Everyday Charity and 9.0 Earthquakes. One day on Facebook I asked my friends: “What can I do to help you?” It was one of those days when I had some unexpected free time. I sincerely hoped that someone would ask me to make dinner for them or watch their kids or juggle their seven…
We went to Africa. We wanted to make a difference. My wife and I spent five years in the noisy, crazy city of Nairobi, Kenya. My day job made a difference, but our “side” stuff was what really made an impact. Steve (name changed because of how small the world is now) was a gate…
Last week I received THREE emails in one day from friends and writers I had wanted to post here as guests. The first I put up yesterday: a raw, painful post called “Airline Food” by Zen Buddhist priest and author Karen Maezen Miller. Read it, if you dare. Tomorrow you will have access to the exclusive…
#Reverb Day 6 Prompt: Make: What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Thanks, Gretchen Rubin) I made cookies (seen pictured), 500 or so of them for a church fundraiser. Well, actually I just rolled…
My 39th Birthday, Condensed As most of you know by now, I LOVE birthday month. I am having a great birthday this year. Here are some of the highlights! My parents called me at 6 a.m. and sang “happy birthday” in unison. They also (I am sure this wasn’t planned) both said “Happy birthday dear…
Or, The Continuing Saga of the Toast Rack In a new series I am offering, English Things I Miss, I recently I opined about the great mystery of the toast rack. A mainstay of the British Bed and Breakfast, I found this piece of kitchenware a great and strange object. It is one of the…
My Romanian dentist gave me a bouquet of pink mums today! Why would a dentist do that? I was admiring the vase of flowers on her front desk and she said “Would like like some to take home?” I blustered and said “Oh no really, I couldn’t” but she took me directly outside, to her backyard…
How to Act Like an Elitist Although I do like to rant, I try not to “talk politics” around this space. This has to do with my fear of “alienating” people. Let’s face it, not that many people read this blog! I can’t take any chances! But I am fired up! Read on! Sam Harris,…
Interrupting my A.M. snoozing time/Morning Edition listening hour this morning was Kate Remington of WSHU’s classical music morning telling me that she’d gotten to work early this morning for “a very special fundraiser.” Memorial Day weekend marked our one year anniversary back in the U.S., our return to National Public Radio. I love NPR. I…
Or, What to Buy A Woman, Any Woman and She’ll Like it, I Swear If you are madly last-minute shopping for ANY woman in your life, just save yourself the hassle and buy this bag from Changehandbags.com. At 50 bucks (now don’t wince… you’re up against it, brother) it’s pricier than a pair of earrings…
Maybe I wouldn’t have been so inspired to write this if I hadn’t been rebuffed by UBS, my husband’s workplace, two years in a row now. UBS, that beloved multinational banking behemoth, which hit Working Mother’s Top 10 again this year for super companies to work for, hosts mammoth holiday parties every year for their…
