A Blog Thank You
Article in the French Jewish magazine Tenou'a featuring the same art work by Michael Thompson I featured last May. Coming on the heels of my damp review of hosting guest bloggers on Monday, I received a surprise email from Chicago artist Michael Thompson, whose art work "Kosher" I had featured back in May. He sent me this copy of an article from the French magazine [...]
Reflections on Two Years of Blogging
Shaker Village Bonnet - as featured on shuttersisters I've been blogging for two years now, and since I reflected on my first year of blogging a year ago, it's time to think about what this second year of blogging has brought. Thankfully, it has brought more readers, more friendships, and more insights: Blogging reflects me back to myself. Of [...]
The Paramedic Method of Editing
I'm still struggling with trimming an essay to meet word count. This essay's parking lot is full! So I decided to employ the Paramedic Method that I teach in my composition classes at Kaplan University. I'm not sure why it's called "paramedic" since to me it seems more surgical, but perhaps it's meant as a first aid for beginning [...]
The Beauty of the Parking Lot Method of Editing
Luc-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, June 2009 Ok, so the parking lot in this picture is beautiful because it is a) on the Normandy Coast of France, and b) features a sunset. I chose this vacation shot my daughter took because it fits today's post, as I want to talk about the beauty of the parking lot as a writerly tool. [...]
What’s Left of a Friendship
In my current quest to get stuff done around the house, I hung up this crystal again. For years it hung in the southern sun porch window, and the kids would always delight in the rainbow colors it would throw onto the living room walls when the sunlight hit it just right. I don't even remember when I took [...]
A Childhood Window Recreated
Recently, as I was rewriting a chapter from my memoir into the essay Giving Up Christmas that was published in Tablet Magazine, I leafed through a photo album of childhood memories, mainly to see if I could find a picture that captured the magic of my childhood Christmases. I found some, but I also found something I didn't expect, [...]