A perfect storm of arrogance, insecurity, compassion and humor, I often go too far, am too nice, too cocky, or pay too much attention, to everything. It never goes well when I reach that point, the run screaming from the room point, which I once believed to be only a metaphor. I first suspected menopause…
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Knitting with pencils
Okay, so it was actually ball point pens. Blue ones. I learned to knit last fall. The whole idea appealed to me. The color and texture of the yarn and the needles, the gifts I could make for people, stitch by stitch, to make them feel special. Once I was knitting, however, the whole process…
Methinks I am undone.
how writing a fantasy novel is an epic adventure in itself When the pandemic hit, my employer made me stay home with pay for 6 weeks before returning full time. I knew this was not a situation which was likely to happen again so I decided to try and double down on my effort to…
A roundabout way.
I recently bought my first BCP. We had a copy of the Book of Common Prayer in the house years ago, but I can’t find it. My husband liberated it from an Episcopal church in Athens, Georgia about the time R.E.M. and the B52s were finding their feet. The only book I recall taking without…
Ultraman, at middle-age
At 7 in the morning recently, while my tea was steeping, I was on the rug in front of the stove doing that exercise where you extend one arm and the opposite leg out into space, change sides then repeat. My husband barked a tiny laugh and said, “You look like Ultraman.” “But with one…
For the duration
Hello! I made a coloring book a while ago. Sometimes, doodling, sketching or coloring can be a nice way to get your mind off of whatever it is you’d like to avoid thinking about. In order to help people avoid thinking too much, I am making my coloring book available for printing during the pandemic….
Worlds upon worlds
Imagine you’re a fisherman living on the banks of the Nile. You don’t yet know it, but your catch has made the Pharaoh and his family ill. In the middle of the night you wake to sounds of your reed-built shack being ransacked. You freeze at the glint of light in the shape of the…
100 weasels, or why reading is good for the country
I just finished reading a novel for the first time in a while. Following a daring young woman in Churchill’s SOE, through a maze of clues, set-backs and close-calls, it was unusually satisfying when the author led me to an ending, good and true. I expect that’s because it’s less of a given, lately, that things will…
“On your bike.”
Since I now have a bike, that oddly gentle British way of telling someone to bug off doesn’t seem such a bad thing. Like the phrase, cycling is an oddly gentle exercise. My joints, which have been with me for some time, now protest after I repeatedly throw them onto the pavement. And bike riding…
Common Knowledge
A very short story. “Ach!” the usher snapped, “This seat is for Monsieur Chapon.” Three-quarters of the way down the runway, stage right, the seat is eventually occupied by a man of average height in a light weight, single-breasted grey flannel suit. His identity is common knowledge. A taller man in black, believed to be…
Would the Buddha be angry if you stole a book?
I work in a large downtown library. Many of our patrons are homeless. It’s heartbreaking on cold nights to watch people shuffle off with their gear at closing time. “Have a good night” seems almost cruel. I’ve started saying “Stay warm” or “Stay dry,” which is hardly better, but at least acknowledges the reality. From…
Random consolations
These fine collapses are not lies —Chaplinesque, Hart Crane Lines from the poem linked above pop into my head with some regularity. That’s probably because it’s one of the few I’ve memorized. Too, it’s a poem about finding wonder in every day life, which is essential if we’re to hold onto our hats in this rising…
these fine collapses @ desmonddahm.com 