“I heard you were one of the characters in On the Road,” I said to Bill, one day in his apartment. “I don’t talk about it!” he growled. Bill was the executive director of a skid-row service center where I … Read More
“When an Eel Climbs a Ramp to Eat Squid from a Clamp…” Moray eel — https://unsplash.com/photos/V2kr8EI5zlc — Koh Tao When I read the headline, I was thunderstruck by how good it was. The internet loved it too. A science story … Read More
A guide for grandparents and other adults Blow dandelions Adults look at a lawn of seeding dandelions and see weeds about to spread. A three-year-old is delighted by picking a bouquet of yellow flowers. You pick a round-seeded head of … Read More
Can we have the best of both at the same time? I am 100% Scandinavian, mostly Swedish with one Danish grandparent. I have an interracial family of my choosing. I dated outside of my race and adopted outside my race. … Read More
Dr. Davis was on Time’s 2020 List of Most Influential People In 2020, Angela Davis was included on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. That is 2020, when the list includes Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and other contemporary figures … Read More
Let me count the ways a classic Chevy is superior I bought a 2022 Honda recently because of all the safety features: backup camera, lane drift warning, blue-tooth enabled radio/sound system/map finding. It gets good mileage and should last a … Read More
Psychobiography, haunting, and women’s mags The best opening paragraph in writing is often agreed to be from Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle: “”My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister … Read More
The biggest river by volume is named for warrior women The Amazon Book Store Collective in Minneapolis was run by women, featuring books for women. I dropped into the store on occasion and browsed the selection. A good coffee shop … Read More
Unless you need critical care, opt for hospital-at-home The Great Human Flood, I thought, as I leaned back in the chair of the emergency department waiting room. I probably looked like them — disheveled, dressed in sweats or thrown-together clothes, … Read More
Belafonte funded the Civil Rights Movement The phone rang and my friend answered it. The call was from Harry Belafonte, and though my friend rarely interrupted our time together to take a phone call, Harry was an exception. My friend … Read More