David Litt’s memoir, Thanks Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years, begins with his work as a campaign worker in Ohio and follows his career as a speechwriter to the President. It’s witty, insightful, self-deprecating, full of interesting information about the Obama White House, and, despite the ups and downs of working for the government,…
It’s really a miracle that Pete Fromm survived the winter he accepted a job to maintain a salmon breeding pool way off the grid in Idaho. His job takes 0-15 minutes each day (once it’s freezing, he has to clear away ice, and once the salmon hatch, he has to check on them and count…
This morning, I’m inspired by Terje’s celebration of her 1000th blog post and her suggestion to try “just because” slices: How about instead of deep thoughts and wise words, without looking for hidden meanings, we simply celebrate the slices of life as they are, the small and the big, the ordinary and the special, the…
On the blog: A slice about reading serendipity and my favorite bookish podcast and why I almost never ask anyone what they’re reading right now In reading: Normally on a week when I only finished one book–which is strange and unusual in itself–I would just skip my Monday post. But I am trying to re-establish…
I look forward to Tuesday mornings all week. Not only is Tuesday slicing day, so I know I have some wonderful blog posts to read and comment on, it’s also the day the new episode of my favorite podcast, What Should I Read Next, releases. In today’s episode, Anne Bogel talks to Will Schwalbe, author…
On the blog: Three things I need more of right now (includes very cute kitten photo!) In reading: I don’t think I’ve ever met a Barbara O’Connor novel I didn’t love, and Wonderland has plenty to recommend it. It’s told in three voices, including Henry’s, a greyhound who has run away from a dog track…
More rain. A couple of cloudy days have reminded me how much I love a rainy day. There are many beautiful things about the place I live, and I know for many people, so many sunny days would be very appealing. But I like rain, and there isn’t much of it here. Only 18 inches…
I feel like I should have far more to show for myself as a reader given that I’ve barely posted reading updates over the last two months and I have been reading, though not at my usual pace. But somehow, I don’t. Keep Going is Austin Kleon’s best book yet, a thoughtful and helpful exploration…
This month, I’m tagging along with Christie, Margaret, Jone, Mary Lee, and other writers to play with poetry for National Poetry Writing Month. I’ll be creating poems using haikubes, metaphor dice, magnet poetry, paint chips and anything else that catches my fancy. I’m always sad when the end of March comes around, and it’s time to stop the daily slice. But…
This month, I’m tagging along with Christie, Margaret, Jone, Mary Lee, and other writers to play with poetry for National Poetry Writing Month. I’ll be creating poems using haikubes, metaphor dice, magnet poetry, paint chips and anything else that catches my fancy. Today I decided to do a backwards paint chip poem. I don’t think that’s really a thing, but I…
This month, I’m tagging along with Christie, Margaret, Jone, Mary Lee, and other writers to play with poetry for National Poetry Writing Month. I’ll be creating poems using haikubes, metaphor dice, magnet poetry, paint chips and anything else that catches my fancy. I thought that all of these poetry metaphors had some potential, and I initially thought I might write a…
This month, I’m tagging along with Christie, Margaret, Jone, Mary Lee, and other writers to play with poetry for National Poetry Writing Month. I’ll be creating poems using haikubes, metaphor dice, magnet poetry, paint chips and anything else that catches my fancy. For the last four days of this daily poetry challenge, I decided I will write one final poem using…
