Earlier this week I had the surgical staples removed from the incision (to remove the tumor), and replaced with (too flimsy to my eyes) surgical tape, a week ahead of schedule. That part of things is healing “perfectly,” in the surgeon’s evaluation. So I’m starting to return (slooowly) to full activity. This does not, unfortunately, […]
My plan to write a side project in November, obviously, has been put on hold for the duration of my healing. I thought I was okay with it until I saw everyone showing off their NaNoWriMo diplomas (even tho I wasn’t doing NaNoWriMo). Even knowing that I can go back to it the moment I’m […]
This is the beginning of the Days of Repentance in the Jewish tradition, starting today with Rosh Hashanah (Yom Ha-Zikkaron) and ending ten days from now with Yom Kippur. I am mostly, as I often say, a forgetting-to-practice Jew. But there are a few traditions I hold fast to, and the High Holy Days are […]
Friday night, I realized that it was the yahrzeit (anniversary) of my father’s death three years ago (he died on April 8th, but Jewish observances run on the lunar calendar, so things can catch you off guard). So the weekend started on a somber note, which may have been why the weekend also brought the […]
I’ve been working in the wine industry out here in Washington for five years, the last two as manager of a tasting room, and for the most part, I’ve loved it. But this week I officially gave notice at the winery. I’m not walking away from the wine biz entirely – I plan to pick […]
This morning I…. made COFFEE! No, seriously. I know some of you think I can’t function without coffee and normally you’d be right, but we were in dire straits here at Chateau Felidae. When I first realized, just after Thanksgiving, that I was coming down with something nasty, I dumped the caffeine. My go-to […]
I have a firm conviction that if you give someone a warm meal and a hot shower, they can do nearly anything they set their minds to that day. Which is why my first and preferred charities have always been food banks. For several years, I ran #WillWriteToFeedOthers, wherein I wrote a story in November, […]
Boom. Done. I love having the ballot box just down the street. A nice walk, some fresh air, and my civic duty is done. And no, I don’t miss the “community-building” elements of single-day polling place voting at all. It was stressful and occasionally inconvenient, and they weren’t even offering cookies any more. And drop-off […]
I’ve just taken on some new obligations (because I didn’t have enough already?) that requires me to drive into Seattle several times a week. Making the best of the situation, I decided to use that driving time, and pulled out the old language CDs to see if I could bring my Italian back up from […]
The Al Chet is a confession of sins for which we all must take communal responsibility. Traditionally spoken during Yom Kippur, part of the High Holy days (which begins Sunday at sundown with Rosh Hashanah), it’s a powerful bit of coming-to-terms with your own shit, and the shit you have allowed to occur around you. […]