Published in GALLIVANTRESSES, UNLIMITED·PinnedMember-onlyGallivantingLet’s go on ALL the adventures — Travel1 min readTravel1 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·PinnedSo we begin“Thus reader, I am myself the matter of my book; you would be unreasonable to spend your time on so frivolous and vain a subject. So farewell.” Michel de Montaigne wrote this at the opening of his monumental book, Essais (Attempts.) I wonder how seriously he meant that. …2 min read2 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·1 day agoMember-onlyMedellin Musings 14Bailamos — For the insanely ridiculous fee of 40,000 Colombian pesos, approximately $8.50 US, David and I received an hour of private dance instruction, in our home. We are hoping to learn to dance the bachata. For those of you unfamiliar, Google Translate and Wikipedia are happy to enlighten you: Dominican bachata…2 min read2 min read
3 days agoMember-onlyAn Open Letter to Ron DeSantisFrom Your Friend Girolamo Savonarola — Ave Ronald, Hey, I get it. You’re a reformer on a holy mission. You’re just looking out for people’s immortal souls, and if they look to you for protection from eternal damnation, because let’s face it, somebody has to protect them from the forces of evil lurking in every corner…Censorship2 min readCensorship2 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·4 days agoMember-onlyMedellin Musings 13A Day at the Opera — We went to see La Traviata today at the unusual hour of 11AM Sunday morning, the house was full and enthusiastic! This was a semi staged version of the Verdi masterpiece, graceful and captivating. It was sung in Italian with supertitles in Spanish, no matter. The words are not the…3 min read3 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·6 days agoMember-onlyMedellin Musings 12Medellin Musings 12 Malls are Life I am a native of Long Island, NY. This means, among other things, that when I taught at Penn State, in the middle of Pennsylvania, if one of my students introduced themselves as part of the obligatory icebreaker at the start of the semester as being from…Shopping Mall4 min readShopping Mall4 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·Mar 23Member-onlyMedellin Musings 11Barbecue Distance — My sister and I have conjured up an alter ego, the Madrone, Donna Corleone. She is the child that would result from the union of a Mafia Don and an advice columnist. Donna has a firm grip on what we call The Rules of Family (she even kept a blog…5 min read5 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·Mar 22Member-onlyMedellin Musings 10“Lucky me” — I am privileged. That’s easy enough to say. But what follows from that admission? What changes once that reality is acknowledged? Speaking only for myself, nothing much. I don’t know what’s worse. Not understanding that your good fortune is not deserved, or in my case, understanding that it’s not deserved…3 min read3 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·Mar 21Member-onlyMedellin Musings 9BJust another city Saturday — David and I gathered our courage and accepted an invitation to have wine with a new friend Saturday after our museum trip. What need for courage? It’s not like we were attempting to free-climb El Capitan or navigate a motorbike through the streets here. It’s simply part of being in…3 min read3 min read
Published in Living the (Low-Stakes) Life- Montaigne and Me and You.·Mar 20Member-onlyMedellin Musings 9AJust another city Saturday — Have I mentioned I love cities? Well, let me say it again! And it won’t be the last time. I have never understood the allure of the suburbs, even though I grew up in one. Pre-adolescence, it was great for playing with friends on the block. But once I realized…3 min read3 min read
