A Mindful Life

As Claire gets older and encounters the world, I find myself thinking that I need an exorcism of my past. That sounds drastic, yes? Claire displays an intensity and sensitivity that I recognize. I observe how she interacts with kids at school, and I feel painful echoes. I want so much not to project my [...]

Facebook has replaced blogging, it seems. At least for me. What to do with this little outpost on the web? Happy new year, anyway. We have more and more ways to communicate, as Thoreau noted, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating. And — as he might also have said [...]

The lull of summer has me reading a lot but writing little. This blog has become a pictorial daybook with a few quotes tossed in for spice. Well, I blame the summer, but evidence shows that this is the trend my life has taken for the past year. Somewhere along the way I feel I’ve [...]

Mine, all mine! At preschool, Claire had a tendency to hurtle into tears if a small thing didn’t go her way, or if she perceived some other child’s behavior as a slight. My response typically had been to croon, hug, and comfort. For instance, one day she brought a stuffed animal with her. In circle [...]

Hope you’ve had a wonderful day!

Gas prices have taken off! This made me laugh. I do expect, however, that prices here will reach $5.00 a gallon by mid-2012 at the latest. I’m basing the costs of preschool (and whether to continue commuting to our current one, which is a 34-mile round trip) on this assumption. We shall see!

Some unknown guy created a rap tribute to NPR and other public radio stations. Genuine pleasure. Reminds me to renew my membership!! If embed doesn’t work, here’s a link: NPR Rap.

Today Claire asked, “What is a symbol?” I tried to answer. A symbol is a small picture that represents a thing that has a certain meaning. The letter T for the “t” sound, for example. Words are symbols. A red light is a symbol, telling people to make their car stop at it, while a [...]

Husband and I are best described as agnostic. I grew up Catholic but am no longer practicing, and I do not agree with/believe/follow the creed. However, we are trying to ensure Claire grows up with an awareness of what this season is about beyond Santa (though Santa is special too, and about love). We read [...]

If Pac-Man had affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music. – Marcus Bridgstocke