I have been thinking about the shape of things because, in addition to the Christmas ritual—which when dissected seems a rather bizarre combination of festivity and tedium—my birthday is at the end of December, and Scott gave me a 1930s Underwood portable typewriter....
This time of year, there are presents to fit in boxes, wrapping paper to measure and cut, and finally the feat of deconstructing the Christmas tree. My ornaments are mostly glass, so they get carefully wrapped in tissue paper and placed in small boxes. Then I place...
The other night I had an unusual experience, a first of its kind for me. I went to a shamanic drum circle winter solstice blessing ritual. (I had my first drum lesson the night before.) My partner, Scott, a drummer, and I went with open minds, to get our freak on, to...
I spent last week at a writers’ workshop. Hamline University runs a Summer Writers’ Workshop every year, and while students in the MFA program get first shot at registering, there are always some non-student participants. Hamline calls this an “intensive residential...
My partner, Scott, is a photographer. Earlier this month we went on an artists’ retreat together. We rented a cabin in Colorado and spent part of each day making art. While I sat in the cabin typing away, he loaded up his gear and went in search of beauty. When we got...