A new hero of mine: Olympia Snowe, Republican senator from Maine. She’s the only senator of her party to vote for the Obama-backed healthcare reform bill this week. And she has ignored right-wing doctrine before: voting against a bill to ban gay marriage. Hail, Ms. Snowe. I hope her courage and her thinking set a […] Read More

Brisk weather is, for me, enlivening. It’s the season of new resolves, freshly sharpened pencils, and perkier energy. Perhaps that’s just in North Carolina, where the mugginess tends to lift by mid-October. In Chapel Hill, the temp just now is 56. The wind is north at 5 mph, and the humidity is 56%. We should […] Read More

University professor meets with student to go over his work. (on Halloween) See previous post: Feeling Like the Only One? Got your Halloween costume yet? Add to del.icio.us - Stumble It! - Subscribe to this feed - Digg it Read More

Surfer women are the subject and the stars of a charming and inspiring new movie I went to see last night. "Dear & Yonder: Daring Stories of Ladies United by the Sea" had its Pittsboro, North Carolina premiere at Pittsboro General Store Cafe. This inland village(pop.2525), 20 minutes from my house, is where one of […] Read More

From Success Magazine this month: “When is the last time you rewarded yourself for failing? Probably never. Instead of mentally punishing yourself for not succeeding, buy yourself an ice cream cone and say, ‘Great job! I’m one step closer to success!” On the surface this sounds silly, but celebrating failure is one of the best […] Read More

A young couple who live down the other fork of my dirt road had a baby a few weeks ago. Their first one died in infancy a couple of years ago and it was very, very hard. I’m so proud of them and their courage for starting again. They have one huge celebratory blue bow […] Read More

I’m watching a friend go through a crisis and handle it in a manner that is thoughtful and purposeful and yet emotionally in touch. This same friend gets into a fury if she misplaces her sunglasses. I’m impressed. And I’m also encouraged by the thought that real trouble may call up resources we didn’t know […] Read More

Hyper-alive today. Partly the blue sky and October air. Mainly it’s being reminded by the waiting-for-news friend I posted about yesterday and then seeing last night another pal who is increasingly disabled. I’m worried for both of them and yet overwhelmingly glad we’re all three alive. And one more thing, I just left the reunion […] Read More

A buddy got some worrisome news. And now has the anxiety of waiting for more info. Maybe the worrisome-news category of events exists to put things like email problems into perspective, for all concerned. However, I can easily conceive of a universe in which there’s never a bad biopsy and no vexing computer problems either. […] Read More

An English professor of my acquaintance was teaching a freshmen class on a day that fell on Halloween. She assumed that surely the students would dress for the occasion. And so she rigged out in witch regalia, including silver mask and tall blue diaphanous cone hat. None of the students dressed up. She swears that […] Read More