the dirigible plum

Win Lose Draw Slept until 4:00 a.m. (that’s sleeping in for this insomnia sufferer) Left the house early enough to pick up a breakfast sandwich and iced coffee on the way to work Discovered too late that my photocopies had a giant smudge on one line Didn’t need to use those copies anyway I had […]

Something About Yourself: My work bestie calls the Myers Briggs “astrology for STEM folks” which should probably make me feel a bit sheepish about loving it so much, but it doesn’t in the least. I’m an INFP, and the image that accompanies the INFP description will tell you everything you need to know about me. […]

I intended to write a different post this morning. I made my coffee, planning it out in my mind. But when I sat down to write, I found myself thinking about a colleague who has a very challenging class this semester–and about my own past challenging classes–and about what I wish I had known then. […]

Unfortunately, it was another night of extreme insomnia. Fortunately, being awake gave me more time to write in my notebook and comment on slices. Unfortunately, I walked out of my new doctor’s office before I even got examined because multiple unmasked patients were coughing in the waiting room and the office itself was filthy (garbage […]

I almost don’t want to say this out loud for fear of scaring it away or bringing some new doom down on all our heads, but I’m feeling hopeful this month. A creative energy that I could only muster for a few days in 2021 seems to have returned. It’s small but steady. For the […]

Officially her name is Sweet Potato, but we call her Potato. Unlike our other cats, she hasn’t accrued nicknames. A friend suggested Tater or Tot, but my husband said no. Sometimes it’s Potatoa, pronounced like Krakatoa, and precisely because she too can erupt with the chaotic energy of a volcano. She is a tiny six […]

Dear Library Books, I meant to read you, I really did. I carried you home with such good intentions, certain that you would be the stack I made it all the way through before the due date. I know I was overly ambitious, but then I always am. Eight books in three weeks is an […]

Once upon a time, I thought that a bowl of vanilla ice cream was a sad thing. I have always been sure those surveys naming vanilla as America’s favorite ice cream flavor were wrong. Could there really be people–and so many of them!–who would choose vanilla over chocolate?! Or strawberry or peach or coffee or […]

It’s living in a pandemic. And the time of year. And being new to a city I haven’t explored much because of that pandemic. And exhaustion. And attending to the needs of others. And my brain. Plenty of obstacles and constraints keep me from having the time and energy and mental space to get to […]

My top ten all-time favorite books list probably has about 35 books on it. Because I regularly catch myself saying things like “That’s a top ten all-time favorite book” about at least 35 different books. Making a top ten life-time favorite list is impossible because there are different lists for different reading moments. My top […]