I spent the Fourth of July having lunch with a friend, then responsibly cleaning, doing laundry, and ironing the fat pile of clothes that sits in my room staring at me every day. I could have gone to a party, but decided to stay home and get things accomplished. If I was any more boring, I would have to be dead. Going out would have been fun, but I…
A few months ago, we had some really windy days –the kind that knock down power lines and blow my casement windows open — and a tragic thing happened. Jamal got knocked off our back stairs. Jamal is a cactus my daughter bought years ago at Ikea. He’s one hell of a cactus. He sat ignored in my daughter’s room for about a year, then got moved to…
I just consulted my Dictionary of the Saints and there is no Patron Saint of Gratitude listed. Maybe she or he is going incognito, but there is definitely a presence out there because any time I start having one of my self-indulgent, poor-me moments, I am busted by the Patron Saint of Gratitude. I think I’ll call her St. Tude. This happens about once every 1.5 years, like…
A few nights ago I was doing my bedtime ritual of piling pillows around me just the way I like them. I got all nice and cozy, then reached up and turned off my bedside lamp. I waited for sleep to knock me out, which for a Tunno takes about seven seconds. As I lay in the darkness of my bedroom I saw something I hadn’t seen in…
I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I love it. I love the decorating — filling the house with all my favorite things from Christmases past, laughing and remembering as we put up our ridiculous ornaments, baking, and being with family and friends. But I hate the rushing to try to get everything done and most of all, I hate taking it all down, packing it up and…
My father proudly served in World War II as a medic in Patton’s army. When he came back from the war, he never wanted to talk about it. All he would say was is it was hell. He did tell me that the Germans used the red crosses on their helmets as targets, and my brother tells me that the medics were eventually armed with guns for self…
You probably think I died in my sleep since it’s been three weeks since my last blog post, but big things have been happening. This was foretold in fortune cookies, which usually say things like: “You will prosper in the field of invention,” but were right on this time.…
Well, guess who continues to build character at an astounding rate? Yes, it’s me. Although I went in pies a blazing, I left the KCRW Pie Contest without a ribbon, or even an honorable mention, but did manage to have a good time. Luckily, I was with Allegra, who is always fun and very supportive. Now that I know the crowd (Public Radio people here in L.A. are…
I have been torturing myself with Duolingo lately. It’s a website where you can learn another language. For the past 40 years I have been trying (clearly not hard) to learn Italian. This week possession has been making me miserable because I can’t tell the difference between him and her. I’m learning handy phrases like: “Il gatto beve il suo latte,” which means the cat drinks his/or her…
My daughter’s been away, housesitting for the past few weeks and I’m getting a taste of what it’s going to feel like in this very empty nest. It will finally be clean, and very quiet. It really forces you to take a look at your life, think about what you’ve done, where you’re going and whether you want company for the rest of the ride. It brought a…