Entries from July 2006

the bright eyes of youth

July 31, 2006

photo by me

The aforementioned younger man has written that he’s shy. He has written that he has trouble talking to others. In fact, as we’ve conversed online, I’ve found his ability to create ongoing conversations a little stilted.
That doesn’t matter to me. I like a challenge. I [...]

my son the man

July 30, 2006

photo by me

american life in poetry: column 070
by ted kooser, u.s. poet laureate, 2004-2006
As a man I’ll never gain the wisdom Sharon Olds expresses in this poem about motherhood, but one of the reasons poetry is essential is that it can take us so far into someone else’s experience that we [...]

dating in the 00s

July 29, 2006

photo by me

Dating sucks.
It sucks even more when you’re nearly 40, you’ve never been married (so people wonder what’s wrong with you), you’re somewhat reclusive/introverted, and you don’t know how to meet guys unless it’s online.
Seriously.
I wouldn’t know how to meet a local guy locally if I was pushed head first [...]

social music

July 28, 2006

Okay, so I talk about social software a lot. I know. But it’s just so…well…cool! You can link up to people from around the world who have similar interests as you or who give you different perspectives on topics.
i love that!
So imagine my surprise when I’m going through my morning feeds (that’s [...]

picture the cure

July 27, 2006

photo by irina souiki

As long-time readers know, cancer has touched my life in more than one way.
In 1999, a co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was as bad as it could possibly get – spreading quickly into her lungs and other parts of her body. Several of us [...]

ironing after midnight

July 23, 2006

photo by me

american life in poetry: column 069
by ted kooser, u.s. poet laureate, 2004-2006
This marvelous poem by the California poet Marsha Truman Cooper perfectly captures the world of ironing, complete with its intimacy. At the end, doing a job to perfection, pressing the perfect edge, establishes a reassuring order to an [...]

fire in the sky

July 20, 2006

photo by me

I get a phone call. I check the caller ID. It’s my brother-in-law, Robert.
He calls to tell me to look out my window. The sunset is amazing, he says. Robert always calls me with great photo opportunities, of which I’m greatly honored.
I look out. [...]

wired

July 18, 2006

photo by me

In the interesting news department, the Center for Citizen Media: Blog has posted Hype versus Reality.
They cover that age-old (okay, months old, maybe – but that’s ages in internet time) question of who visits blogs and social software sites. A few of their findings:

mostly young and male, especially [...]

they sit together on the porch

July 16, 2006

photo by me

american life in poetry: column 068
by ted kooser, u.s. poet laureate, 2004-2006
Here is a marvelous little poem about a long marriage by the Kentucky poet, Wendell Berry. It’s about a couple resigned to and comfortable with their routines. It is written in language as clear and simple as its subject. [...]

let the sun shine in

July 11, 2006

photo by me

There have been storm clouds on my horizon. I have been ill and I haven’t been motivated. I couldn’t write and I could barely think and even getting up each day has been hard.
The rain has rejuvenated me somewhat. But it has been other people who [...]