Writing Exercise: Color List – Beige
I haven't done the color list exercise in a while, mainly because I thought I had covered all the main colors already. For the uninitiated, the idea of the [...]
17
May, 2012
16
May, 2012
Photo Essay: The Dry Goods Market in Shanghai
Outrageously kitschy and cute - baby ponytail holders at the Dry Goods Market in the Nanshi District of Shanghai. Being an indoor bazaar, the Dry Goods Market is indeed [...]
15
May, 2012
Photo Essay: A Market in Shanghai
A tea shop - my favorite photo from our stroll through the market in Nanshi, the Old Town of Shanghai. This area used to be the old walled city of [...]
8
May, 2012
A Lane House in Shanghai
I really should have started my Shanghai series with sharing photos of this lane house in the Jing'an District, as it was the first place my friend took me [...]
3
May, 2012
On Having to Read a Book
My daughter's stack of books she wants to read These days, I feel like my children, a middle schooler and two high schoolers: I have to read certain books [...]
1
May, 2012
Photo Essay: Laundry in Shanghai
It struck me that in Shanghai laundry is everywhere, except the strict business area along the riverfront. Otherwise, in any halfway residential area, laundry is hung out to dry. [...]
12
Apr, 2012
Photo Essay: Shanghai’s Former Jewish Ghetto
Old meets new in this view of Hongkou rooftops sharing the sky with the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center, built across the Huang Pu River in Pudong, [...]
15
Mar, 2012
Photo Essay: Maple Sugar Festival in the Indiana Dunes
Going to the Maple Sugar Time Festival in the Indiana Dunes is one family tradition I started when the kids were little. Since we missed it last year, my [...]
12
Mar, 2012
Writing Exercise: Color List – Black
The month of March has crept up without me presenting a color list exercise yet, but here we go. I have one more color left, I think, and that's [...]
28
Feb, 2012
On Having a Local Bookstore or Life after Borders
I've been cleaning up my desk (a highly overdue task) and came across this Borders bookmark. I was about to toss it in the recycling bin, when I stopped [...]
9
Feb, 2012
Reflections on a Year of Blogging
Nevada Road - see corresponding photo essay on wild horses What a ride it has been! I started this blog in January last year because I wanted to have [...]
7
Feb, 2012
Writing Exercise: Color List – Purple
Since we already did red, which would also have been appropriate for February, the month of Valentine's Day, the color for this month is purple. At least there is [...]
14
Jan, 2012
Space Camp
Since I went with my two older kids when they were in 3rd and then 4th grade, a trip with my youngest, now in 6th grade, was overdue. So [...]
9
Jan, 2012
Writing Exercise: Color List – White
Dusty Miller at the Lincoln Park Conservatory Even though there still is no snow outside here in Chicago, the color for this month is going to be white, perhaps [...]
8
Jan, 2012
Dr. Seuss’s Creative Process
Today was the last day of the Dr. Seuss and the Art of Invention Exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry. Thanks to my daughter, who purchased tickets [...]
6
Jan, 2012
Antebellum Homes in Huntsville, Alabama
Mastin Batson House, 1819, on Franklin Street in Huntsville, Alabama This holiday season I didn't manage a photo trip to capture some of the kitschier Christmas decorations [...]
3
Jan, 2012
Candle Smoke Writing
Here's a different kind of writing for you: Candle Smoke Writing, or rather, historical graffiti. My son and I stopped by Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on our [...]
27
Dec, 2011
Photo Essay: Christkindlmarket Chicago
Even though I don't celebrate Christmas, in December a visit to the Christkindlmarket downtown Chicago is obligatory - mainly because I can find favorite German delicacies there that I [...]
20
Dec, 2011
Photo Essay: Lincoln Park Zoo
My 11-year-old son is off from school already this week, and he wanted to go to the zoo (Who knew?). So yesterday we spent the morning at Lincoln Park [...]
12
Dec, 2011
My Winter List: Things to Do in Winter
We had the first dusting of snow in Chicago last week, and temperatures dipped below the freezing point over the weekend, so clearly the weather is telling me: It's winter. [...]
5
Dec, 2011
Writing Exercise: Color List – Gray
Driving towards downtown Chicago recently It seems like all the color is gone now outside, and days like the one in my photo here are more prevalent. Thus, the [...]
1
Dec, 2011
Encounter with Art on the Midway Plaisance in Chicago
In Chicago you don't have to go to a museum to experience art. Rather, you'll encounter it on your everyday ramblings. Case in point: The other day I dropped one [...]
30
Nov, 2011
My Favorite Poem: Herbsttag by Rainer Maria Rilke
Today is the last day of November, an appropriate time to share with you my favorite poem, Herbsttag (Autumn Day) by Rainer Maria Rilke. Many of you probably know [...]
29
Nov, 2011
A Hot Chocolate Party in the Cold
This blog makes me do things, such as following through on fun schemes like having a hot chocolate party outside, in the cold. Our dotted pumpkin showed signs of [...]
24
Nov, 2011
A Dotted Lantern for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not Pumpkin Day, but I still had this pumpkin from our trip to the pumpkin farm. And I hadn't gotten around to carving it into the polka-dot [...]
14
Nov, 2011
Why a Writers Residency is a Good Idea
The studios at VCCA are housed in the former barn complex. During my second time there, we had a terrific blizzard. This pictures shows the brilliant day after the [...]
11
Nov, 2011
Catching a Serendipitous Concert under the Tiffany Dome at the Chicago Cultural Center
Sometimes life hands you bliss on a silver platter – but how to capture that joy? I will give it a try here by sharing a recent experience, and [...]
7
Nov, 2011
I Want to Write My Story, But Is It Worthy?
I love it when students share their concerns with me and ask questions that I am sure many writers ask themselves. Today I am sharing one such question (with [...]
4
Nov, 2011
Writing Exercise: Color List – Brown
Another month has begun, so it's time for another color list. The color for November will be brown as it seems a month rich with so many earthly things. [...]
3
Nov, 2011
Reflections on the Value of a Writers’ Conference
On my fourth day back home from the writersandcritters conference in Sterling, VA, I am still exhausted. Writers conferences will do that to you, even a small and intimate [...]
5
Oct, 2011
What’s in your Pocket? A Way to Characterize Yourself and Others
Looking at what you stuff into your coat pockets offers a sketch of your character. When I sifted through the spoils from our road trip, half of what I [...]
3
Oct, 2011
Writing Exercise: Color List – Orange
What would fall be without pumpkins? So October's color is orange. For the uninitiated, the idea here is to come up with ways to evoke orange without mentioning the color [...]
29
Sep, 2011
Submissions: My Worst Submissions Story Yet or the Peril of Simultaneous Submissions
Since I'm always waxing about how to get the submissions process done right, I thought I'd share, for a change, the story of my own worst mishap. In February of [...]
28
Sep, 2011
Fall Recipe: Zwetschgendatschi (Prune Plum Sheet Cake)
I don't plan to turn this into a cooking blog, but in my September 27 post I promised the recipe for this tongue breaker of a cake: Zwetschgendatschi (click here [...]
27
Sep, 2011
My Fall List: Things to Do in Fall
Given that I have a list for making sure I "have a summer," it's only fair to have one for fall, after all fall is my favorite season. Here's [...]
11
Sep, 2011
9/11 Tribute: Portraits of Grief
Remember the "Portraits of Grief" the New York Times published in the months after 9/11? The little stories about the individuals who perished that day that the NYT staffers put [...]
6
Sep, 2011
Writing Exercise: Color List – Red
September is the month of lushness - all the fruits and vegetables are ripe and deep in color. So this month's color is the most forceful of colors: red. [...]
5
Sep, 2011
The Strange Obligation to “Having a Summer”
Labor Day marks the "official" end of summer, and thus it's time to ask whether one has made the most of the season of heat, beach and long, supposedly [...]
28
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 13 (the last one): Homestead National Monument
Then, as now, windmills dot the flat landscape. They provide the crucial source of power to pump up water. After catching our breath at the alpine views of the [...]
24
Aug, 2011
Reading: An Exclusive Love by Johanna Adorján
On the surface, Johanna Adorján’s An Exclusive Love is about her grandparents’ suicide. But it is really a love story, in more way than one, with all the requisite [...]
23
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 12: Mesa Arch Photo Essay
Mesa Arch @ Canyonlands National Park My son has this view as a wallpaper on his computer. I have to admit I always thought it was fake until I [...]
19
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 11: Arches National Park Photo Essay
To quote my daughter: "This is cooler than Monument Valley." Some whining from my sons was involved because we were "hiking again" until they realized the arches offered climbing [...]
18
Aug, 2011
Writing Postcards
This summer has revived the art of writing letters and postcards for me. While my daughter was at camp, the only way to communicate with her was to write [...]
17
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 10: Salt Lake City
The Great Salt Lake as seen from Saltair at dusk My number one goal for our visit to Salt Lake City was to float in the Great Salt [...]
16
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 9: Las Vegas with Kids
One thing I liked at the Hoover Dam: Those cool 1930s Art Deco towers. What to do in Las Vegas with kids? First of all, I must say Las [...]
15
Aug, 2011
MFA Q&A: Was it worth it? – Answers from Fellow Alumni
This installment on the value of an MFA offers answers from some of my fellow alumni from the MFA in Creative Writing program at Queens University of Charlotte. Q: [...]
14
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 8: Wild Horses near Las Vegas
Early morning drive north on SR-160 to US-95 in Nevada My daughter's number one wish for this road trip (every family member got one) [...]
10
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 7: Death Valley Photo Essay
Driving into Death Valley from the east on SR190 at sunrise - about 5:45 a.m. Going lower. Badwater Pond - salty rather than poisonous as it is fed by [...]
9
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 6: The Canyons
I haven't quite figured out yet what it means to visit great places like Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park a second time, except that it [...]
6
Aug, 2011
Road Trip Report 5: Rafting the Colorado River Triggers Childhood Memory
View from the Glen Canyon Dam down to where to floats disembark One way to keep family members happy on a long road trip is to ask beforehand what [...]