About this blog
Retirement has given me the gift of time to reflect and write about life, gratitude, humor, body and spirit, sometimes seriously and sometimes with a touch of humor, irony, or just plain silliness.-
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Category Archives: writing
Finding inspiration in the life of a 95-year old
Meet my friend Eleanor. She’s a terrific writer, former teacher, advocate for the mentally ill at city, state and national levels, addicted thrift-store shopper (though she claims to have quit cold turkey this past year), patron of the arts, and all-around … Continue reading
Posted in aging, inspiration, intergenerational, writing
Tagged birthdays, elders who inspire, influencers, memoirists
11 Comments
My love of libraries
Ever since I checked out my first book in a tiny storefront in my West Seattle neighborhood, I’ve loved libraries. At age 15 and 1/2, my first job title after “babysitter” was “page,” a library position that involved shelving books, … Continue reading
Surprises from the past
I always thought researching one’s ancestors was a job for old people. I’m researching mine now and I’m old, so I guess I was right. Years ago, my mother gave me a short family history prepared by a relative of … Continue reading
Posted in friends and family, intergenerational, personal reflections, writing
Tagged ancestors, genealogy, social history
3 Comments
Putting early learning to work with literary agents
Recently, I had a chance to do what I do best, namely, read aloud in front of an audience. Not exactly a big claim to fame. Since I was attending the annual Pacific NW Writers’ Conference at the time, reading … Continue reading
Dear Diary…
*Dear Diary, “I walked home from school with Mary. We played at my house. Then I practiced piano.” Ann (*reasonable facsimile of childhood diary) Lately, I’ve been thinking about journals, blushing about my own feeble attempts to fill even one … Continue reading
Posted in aging, journaling, writing
2 Comments
“The long and winding road”
By now everyone on the planet must have heard the cliché, “It’s the journey that’s most important, not the destination.” A friend who writes a travel blog (see story here) and who traveled with her husband to Greece to buy a … Continue reading
From Aerograms to Instagram
Anyone remember ‘pen pals’? The kids your age who lived somewhere else with whom you exchanged letters about your towns, countries and lives, until one or both of you lost interest? My first pen pal was British. I saw her … Continue reading
Posted in memories, personal reflections, writing
Tagged email pals, Facebook, Iranians, pen pals, writers
1 Comment
My year of the horse
On January 31 we’ll say hello to the Year of the Horse. According to travelchinaguide.com, “The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people’s ethos – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, … Continue reading
Going where the story takes you
Hear the word “research” and what comes to mind? Laboratories teeming with pink-eyed rodents? Spreadsheets filled with statistics? Undergraduate student volunteers taking tests to predict how likely they are to do x or y when faced with an impossible choice? … Continue reading
Posted in humor, inspiration, personal reflections, writing
Tagged researching a story, writing a novel
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Writers Conference attracts fairy godmothers
More than five hundred people went sleepless in Seattle this past week. I was one of them. Sleepless because we all took part in the four-day annual conference of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, which had crammed in enough formal activities … Continue reading