Heat Weirdlastname On the freeway the other night, I saw a car fire on the opposite side. The freeway is flat and straight. The sun had long since set. The flames were visible from quite a distance. An SUV was engulfed in flames. Police were on the scene. People who had presumably been riding in the SUV … Read more
Setting: a Sunday afternoon in early October in New Jersey. Small college library music room. A week before my 20th birthday, I was a junior in college, studying to be a music teacher. I was sitting in the music room in the campus library, working on a massive score project, when my right ear started … Read more
The Climbing Daddy needed a run. I wanted to take pictures of some of the fantastic thunderheads we had that day. We went to a local park with small mountains/big rocks where he ran, I photographed, and we were both happy. I mentioned the other day, with the same introduction, that I’d share a few … Read more
We’ve all heard this before: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Except: no. It’s not inherently or necessarily true. So many things that literally or figuratively try to kill us don’t leave us better or stronger. Cancer didn’t kill me. (Hooray!) Am I stronger? Certainly not physically. I trained with a trainer for several … Read more
This is the fourth time this has happened. One of my eyelashes is really long. Just one. I don’t know what makes this happen, but I get a disproportional amount of joy from my long eyelash. People try to pull it off to prevent it from falling into my eye, thinking it’s one that fell … Read more
The Climbing Daddy needed a run. I wanted to take pictures of some of the fantastic thunderheads we had that day. We went to a local park with small mountains/big rocks where he ran, I photographed, and we were both happy. (Thunderheads are big, puffy clouds that are common during monsoon season here.) I got … Read more
A law was passed in Oregon that students’ absences due to mental health issues can be excused. But until I looked it up and read about it, all I knew was that “mental health days” are now excused. Having a legit mental health issue and “taking a mental health day” are two very different things, … Read more
With most things, there’s a fine line between “not hardcore” and “too many excuses.” Setting a reasonable, realistic goal is critical in walking this line. For most people most of the time, “hardcore” is not the way to go. It’s not sustainable. If you’re in a situation where it’s critical to be all in and … Read more
The Climbing Daddy, The Kid, and I went to a Phoenix Mercury game over the weekend. It so happened that it was “Rock the Pink” night. I was not excited. They honored breast cancer survivors, which was nice, and every seat had a pink Rock the Pink rally towel on it. Pre-recorded interviews with some … Read more
I’ve been spending a little time each week taking pictures. I bought into an online photography class and get a 10- to 20-minute lesson each week with a homework assignment. So far, the explanations are good and sometimes help clarify things I didn’t realize I needed clarified. When I get farther into it, if still … Read more