The Smells of Fall
There's no denying that we are at the tail end of fall here in the Midwest. The temperature dips below the freezing at night, the trees are almost bare, [...]
25
Nov, 2015
24
Nov, 2015
Winter Break In
We had a winter break in this past weekend. I know this is not the proper use of the English term "break in;" rather, it is a literal [...]
18
Nov, 2015
A Building Rises
I am quite behind on chronicling the progress of building our country barn/apartment. Needless to say, by now it's a recognizable and quite formidable building. But back to where [...]
16
Nov, 2015
There Must Be Something to Set Against All This
Whenever something horrible happens like the Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris this past Friday, I ask myself, there must be something to set against all this. This is a line [...]
2
Nov, 2015
Study in Concrete
I didn't get to see the pouring of these foundation walls (sadly, I don't make it out to the construction site way as often as I would like). So when [...]
29
Oct, 2015
Happy Pumpkin Time!
Isn't this the cutest potholder ever? A knitted pumpkin? I fell in love with this pattern in the KnitPicks newsletter. Fall is my favorite season, and I love pumpkins [...]
27
Oct, 2015
A Place to Write
My preferred cubicle at the Writers Workspace "So what do you do now that you don't have the Hemingway House?" I get that question a lot since my writer-in-residence [...]
9
Oct, 2015
Building Begin
After more than two years of planning, we have finally broken ground on a barn with living quarters on our country property in Indiana. This is one of the reasons [...]
22
Sep, 2015
21
Sep, 2015
A Memoir of the Pain of Suicide and the Gift of Siblings
Kelley reading at her book launch party at the Book Cellar in June September is Suicide Awareness Month, and on this occasion I want to present you with the beautiful [...]
11
Sep, 2015
Remembering 9/11
Every year, to commemorate 9/11, I take my Portraits 9/11/01 off the shelf and open it at random to read some of the obituaries the New York Times collected so [...]
9
Sep, 2015
The Postcard Tradition
I haven’t been around because I’ve been chilling, and before I was chilling, I was traveling—days crammed with stuffing suitcases, riding taxes and buses, making it to the airport on time, [...]
14
Aug, 2015
On Learning a New Language
Learning a new language means frantically running around in my mind snatching at the coat tails of words I might now, hoping to catch a consonant-vowel combination that hopefully means [...]
12
Aug, 2015
Shuk Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem
Any market is a feast for the eyes, and a shuk (= Middle Eastern market, pronounced "shook") is especially so. It is also a photographer's paradise. All those colors, shapes, [...]
2
Aug, 2015
Jerusalem Street Library
While walking to my Ulpan (Hebrew school) in Jerusalem this morning, I passed by this street library set up in an old bus station. Of course I was immediately charmed [...]
27
Jul, 2015
Rejection vs. Failure
"You do your best work after your biggest disasters." Tim Robbins, as quoted in The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp I'm not sure that [...]
23
Jul, 2015
The Creative Bubble – Reading Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit
I have been in a creative bubble for the past few weeks, focusing my mental energies on a creative project, namely a restructuring of my memoir manuscript. I didn't know [...]
20
Jul, 2015
Farewell, Hemingway House!
My year as writer-in-residence at the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park has come to an end and as I say farewell to my studio in the attic, I treat [...]
16
Jul, 2015
Two Turrets: My Grandfather’s and Hemingway’s
Turret of the Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois Turret of my grandfather's former apartment in Liberec, Czech Republic The Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois has a [...]
13
Jul, 2015
The Way to Work
My days as the writer-in-residence at the Hemingway House in Oak Park are drawing to a close, and so I decided to document my drive there. I have come to [...]
22
Jun, 2015
Eventually It All Gets Done
I have often have to remind myself that eventually, it all gets done. Such as sewing that button onto my son's polo shirt. It's an old Lacoste he inherited from [...]
1
Jun, 2015
My Recipe for a Perfect Porch Day in Bella Grace Magazine
You might remember my blog post from last summer, Recipe for a Perfect Day on the Porch. Well, I'm happy to announce that it made it into the summer issue [...]
28
May, 2015
A Picnic in Hemingway’s Attic
What could be more perfect than a bunch of writer friends holding a picnic in the attic of the Hemingway Birthplace Home? Where the gabled windows look out at [...]
13
May, 2015
The Sweetest Little Mother’s Day Gift
I just had to share this: My 17-year-old son gave me this for Mother's Day--a tiny rose he crafted from tin and copper, propped into the cutest little vase, namely [...]
7
May, 2015
Thank You, Abigail Thomas
Once in a while a book comes along that is like an old armchair. You simply don't want to get up. You could read on and on until your butt [...]
4
May, 2015
Missing the Japanese Garden
I miss the Osaka Japanese Garden; now is the time of year when I would seek it out on a spring time walk. My kids consider it "theirs." Goes [...]
14
Apr, 2015
Two Years of Morning Pages
Today is my two year anniversary of Morning Pages. Incidentally I find myself in the same spot where I began this practice in earnest: on the banks of the Potomac [...]
27
Mar, 2015
Sunrise @ Masada
Escapism is in order! I have been frustrated and uninspired after months of querying and not finding a home for my memoir manuscript. In addition, one obligation is following another, [...]
6
Mar, 2015
Collecting Words and Phrases
When I read, I underline words and phrases I like. Thanks to Liz Lamoreux's Inner Excavation and her idea of creating a word toolbox to "reveal the poet within," I've been [...]
2
Mar, 2015
On Not Reading a Book
I didn't read the book for the December meeting of the Memoir Workshop I teach at StoryStudio Chicago. If the instructor doesn't read the assigned book, that's pretty bad, right? [...]
26
Feb, 2015
Dreaming of a Turkish Bath House
Blame it on the cold winter we are having in Chicago, but I am dreaming of the Turkish Bath House in Akko, Israel. The place itself is a dream, because [...]
24
Feb, 2015
Interview with Sarah Wildman
In December I interviewed Sarah Wildman about her book Paper Love. This was a particular privilege because Paper Love is my kind of story: figuring out what happened in a [...]
22
Feb, 2015
My First Newsletter
I just clicked the Send button for my very first newsletter, and I have to say it is like skating out on a pond, not quite knowing if the ice [...]
13
Feb, 2015
Off the Beaten Path in Israel: Zohar Stronghold
The cold is getting to me (Chicago's high is 17F today), so it's time for memories of warmer days and an entirely different landscape than winter's bleak outside. I haven't [...]
5
Feb, 2015
Today and Tomorrow
Today is... ... the undulating blue of the mountains against the bright of the sky ... the dusting of snow on the summits ... the road swinging up the [...]
23
Jan, 2015
Magic in the Winter Woods @ VCCA
I have returned to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), where I'm trying to be immensely productive during my two-week residency. When I get tired, or need to rev [...]
19
Jan, 2015
Mini Memoir Workshop @ Hemingway House
I'll be teaching a Mini Memoir Workshop at the Hemingway Birthplace Home as part of my gig as writer-in-residence. It will be a series of four evening classes in February [...]
15
Jan, 2015
Artist & Writer’s Workbook 2015
Before we move too far into this new year, I am happy to present you with the Artist & Writer's Workbook 2015. Last year, for the first time, I decided [...]
12
Jan, 2015
Four Years of Blogging
My four year blogging anniversary came and went, and I didn't even notice until I was looking for something else in my Morning Pages book from a year ago and [...]
5
Jan, 2015
Those Who Trod Before Me
A freshly snowed-on sidewalk reveals who has walked before us. I never quite appreciated that until yesterday morning, when I took my daily walk while it was snowing softly. I [...]
24
Dec, 2014
Christmas Greetings from the Hemingway Birthplace Home
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate today and tomorrow! This is my current view when I come down the stairs from my studio in the attic of the Hemingway Birthplace [...]
17
Dec, 2014
Happy Chanukah!
Yesterday was the first night of Chanukah, quite appropriate for my family's annual visit to Chicago's Christkindlmarket downtown, thanks to Chabad Lubavitch's giant Menorah. At the Christkindlmarket we stock up [...]
12
Dec, 2014
12/12/14 – Time Capsule
I am keeping with my tradition of creating a time capsule of the 12th of December, begun as a project on 12/12/12. One day, way in the future, it might [...]
8
Dec, 2014
You Can Always Count on the Waves
I consider living along the Chicago lakefront one of the great blessings of my life. The other day I went for one of my favorite walks, along Rogers Park [...]
4
Dec, 2014
Farewell to an Old Pot
Why, I ask myself, is it so hard to say good-bye to an old pot? I know why, actually, but I still keep mulling over it because it strikes me [...]
1
Dec, 2014
My Photo Essay in Bella Grace Magazine
My photo essay "Capture Magic that Hangs by a Gossamer Thread" appears in the winter 2015 issue of Bella Grace magazine, on sale as of today, December 1. Last [...]
25
Nov, 2014
Why a Real Life Story is Never the Whole Story
A drab and wet November morning--perfect for revising at the Royal Coffee House. Monday evening two weeks ago I wrote a story. I wrote it sitting in my car. I plugged [...]
13
Nov, 2014
When Past and Present Evil Collide
Dalya Lemkus - May soon her family be able to look at her picture without crying. Sometimes all I can do to come to grips with a terrible [...]
3
Nov, 2014
Joy is… 31 Walks
The sound of fall: Walking through leaves October went out with a bang here in Chicago; we had such a mighty storm that the waves were swapping over and Lake [...]
31
Oct, 2014
3rd/4th Graders Visit the Hemingway House
I know it's been all about the Hemingway House here lately, but I'm simply having too much fun with it. This week three 3rd/4th grade classes came to visit, and [...]