“So, have you noticed that irony is super trendy now?” I dealt Phase 10 cards to Amy and my two kids. “‘The Ironic Generation.’ I keep hearing that. What does that even mean? That people want to live off the grid, yet they can’t survive without Facebook and Twitter?” Amy fanned and arranged the cards … Continue reading Ironic table talk (R)
Portraiture is possibly my favorite form of photography. Faces show character in every laugh line, every weathered wrinkle, in tan lines left by always-worn sunglasses, in the trickle of sweat through trail dust. In the scraggly beards of men who have walked the woods for weeks. On our drive through Catawba valley, my husband said, … Continue reading A journalist I am not (R)
Ramon reminded me instantly of Ernest Hemingway. He wore a white beard and loose linen pants. His voice was low and smooth. He spoke simple Spanish with us, and he smiled and made political jokes, gently testing the mettle of his son’s American friends. His apartment was much smaller than Quim and Cristina’s, and when … Continue reading When in Spain
“Understanding others’ mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies.” – David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano, “Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind,” Science “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and … Continue reading New science says literary fiction helps us understand one another
Little girls in pajama pants and dripping swim caps, the insides of their arms marked with Sharpie charts – Event | Heat | Lane – play UNO and eat nachos on the floor. They giggle and dance and grab each other’s wrists to read the numbers when the loudspeaker announces “Event 57, Girls 10 and … Continue reading “You want some? We can share.” Kid sport culture.
Amongst our Southern literature, children’s books, fantasy and sci fi, essays on world religions, and art books, we have a single magazine on our shelves: the Tenth Anniversary issue of Rolling Stone magazine from December 15, 1977. My parents saved it for me through the years because they know I love Annie Leibovitz, and the … Continue reading The 1977 Rolling Stone on our shelf: A Photo Essay
Butterfly Mind 