In the Before Times, we went to Burst of Butterflies more often than you might expect people to go to a pottery-painting place. It was a family-run business in the city I worked in, and they opened a satellite location closer to home (and easier to park) than the original place. We painted canvases. We … Read more
Prices of seemingly everything are going up. Delays in arrival of products and materials/components have been going on for over a year now but also seem to be increasing. The shipping delays are in part due to a shortage of workers (which is largely due to losing people—temporarily, long-term, or permanently—to COVID) but also because … Read more
My conversation with Debra on Ordinary Chaos, included some talk about child sex trafficking or the sex slave trade. Between that and some statistics she gave on domestic violence, I felt it appropriate to put a warning at the beginning of the episode and also to mark it explicit in my podcast hosting service. Many … Read more
Have you ever grown any kind of squash or similar vining plant? My experience with them is: I throw seeds in the ground or the pot or the bed, and either nothing happens (“Did we plant something in this area? I thought we did…”) or it grows and takes over. Likewise, when a creative idea … Read more
I’m pretty much always in search of means of connecting with people, and when I heard this one, I knew I had to steal it. You can steal it, too. It’s a 20-minute visit. A 20-minute phone call. (Phone-phobic people, hold on—hear me out!) A friend can call and say they’re just calling for a … Read more
In yesterday’s episode of Ordinary Chaos, Chris talked about wanting his writing to make a difference to people, whether he made money on it or not. He’s not alone in this wish. I took the mic for a moment to tell listeners—and now I’m telling you, readers—if you are consuming content made by someone else … Read more
I sat down to write. No words. (I am rarely a woman with no words, especially when confronted by a fresh document.) So I went to things I’d started before to see if I could work on one of those. Nope. List of ideas? No good ones. And then I had a couple of conversations … Read more
Rocket Kid did some week-long theatre day camps over the summer, each of which ended with a performance in their classroom. Classes were small, and the teachers held the performance until each child had someone in the audience to see them. Due to COVID mitigation strategies, each child was permitted two audience members. Chairs were … Read more
The Pacific Northwest and its Canadian neighbor are shattering temperature records. The highest temperature ever recorded in Canada happened this week, and it’s possible that by the itme you read this, it will be broken again. Not only are the highs higher than ever, but it’s more sustained than ever, sometimes each day breaking the … Read more
If all goes according to plan, I have a podcast that will be live on July 14—Ordinary Chaos. This post was born in that project, but the takeaway isn’t about the podcast. Hang with me. Ordinary Chaos has several different threads within it, but the overall premise is that people don’t need to be famous to … Read more