Category: Uncategorized

The blood culture came back clear today. I haven’t had the MSSA infection in 5 days, and apparently that constitutes a cure. After 6 weeks on a vancomycin drip. And a lot of time not really moving much, because when I wasn’t tethered to an IV pole, I couldn’t muster up the lung capacity to…

I was going to have a lovely summer vacation by a lake at a B&B near Brattleboro, where there are a ton of lovely boutiques and bookstores and whatnot. I was going to write. I mean, yes, I am still writing, but it’s not the writing I wanted to do. I was going to drive…

Until recently, I thought the most life-threatening experience I’d ever been through was having the flu with asthma. My asthma manifests as coughing – insane coughing – and the night I lost all my breath and could barely tell 911 what I needed, I honestly thought there was a real risk I could lose my…

I am not a Knicks fan, but only because I don’t follow basketball. If I did, I probably would be a Nets fan, but that is because I spent my formative adult years in Brooklyn. And I have nothing to say about the Knicks at all. I have everything to say about what the city…

When I started at Mount Holyoke, I was overwhelmed. What a rich history. What a legacy. I came from an educated-but-not-wealthy family. Clergy. Harvard educated, but not reaping Harvard rewards. Because clergy. And at Seaford High, I was regularly mocked. No one took me seriously, except quite possibly my teachers (and I wasn’t sure about…

Cassandra had the gift of prophecy, and the curse that none of her prophecies would be believed. Because she refused the come-on from Apollo. It figures. Cassandra, daughter of the king and queen, in the temple of Apollo, exhausted from practising, is said to have fallen asleep; whom, when Apollo wished to embrace her, she…

It’s May. Mid-May, even. Today I very much wanted to walk in the park near my home – the park with all the herons and egrets and cormorants. But it was 92 degrees. In May. And there was an air quality alert. So my friend and I hit the gym instead. The next few days…

I’m not going to pick this apart. It’s the raving of a madman. Anyone who thinks transgender people are aiming weapons at the American public is deluded beyond discussion. But it goes beyond that. The entire executive order specifies “antifa”. Antifa is not an organized band of people – antifa is the fascists’ label for…

I remember when I first heard the words “buying debt.” It’s a way for investors to make money off of people who have incurred large amounts of debt – whatever those people pay goes straight into the pockets of the investors, who have bought the debt from companies who have originally incurred it. Those companies…

I am Away. Easter weekend, I am in one of my favorite places in the world, an Air BnB with a massive amount of history behind it. I can’t tell you that history, or you’d pinpoint my location exactly. But suffice it to say, it’s infused with freedom and victory. A week or so ago,…

What a fucking reductive term, which is being used to dismiss people who actually care about their communities, their children’s growth, their local government, their national goverment. But sure, we’re drunk. Easily dismissed. Unreliable. Can’t be trusted to do what we say we will. Last night I dreamed that I was with my family –…

In kindergarten, at Edgemont Elementary School in Montclair, NJ, the kids in my class were offered the opportunity to learn how to read. Most were eager – probably 27 out of the 30 in the class. But I saw an opportunity. Since I’d arrived in this class, I’d wanted to play with the pattern blocks.…

So this guy is Dr. Shawn DeRemer, married to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. He is an anesthesiologist. And he’s been accused of sexually assaulting two members of the Labor Department. On the premises. He is an anesthesiologist. Who lives in Portland, Oregon. Who frequently visits his wife in her office on Constitution Avenue in DC.…

Years ago, I wrote a blog post about the harrassment I’d received in the book industry. I gave up this blog, but the truth about what I’ve known still holds: In the course of my career in the book industry, I have: This is only what I can remember. Oh, and there was that time…

I think (?) I’ve checked in with all my loved ones who could be impacted by the coming storm. It’s supposed to be bad – I’ve booked a TaskRabbit to come dig out my car on Monday, assuming the roads are passable on Tuesday and I’m expected back at work. These storms involve so much,…

Because of reasons, I’ve been gathering my loved ones. Talking, walking, writing, communing. Right now it feels like a mistaken dystopia – someone took a wrong turn while time-traveling, and we’re all stuck with this. And I realize to many, “this” is nothing out of the ordinary. To Black Americans, to Native Americans – and,…

Of food. When you reach a certain age, it’s not about presents. The gifts you send? Food. The gifts you receive? Food. It’s all food all the time. I can’t eat that much food, but at least for the coming days, I have breakfast taken care of (thank you, Jacqueline), and a charcuterie board to…