By the way
I did a couple of guest posts for my friend Rachel’s blog, Being Finite, while she was away. Rachel is a great friend and a great writer, and if you happen to be an agent, please go represent her novel right now. Thank you.
A postcard from the writing life
According to Wikipedia, in the days before elevators, the garret was the “least prestigious position in a building.” While the third-floor garret (a.k.a. “home office”) I write in is much nicer than Jo March’s or Sara Crewe’s, I can attest that it is not a particularly prestigious space. This was brought to my attention yesterday […]
How to stay peaceful during Chicago’s hottest summer on record
1. Wait till twilight. 2. Put on bathing suit.* 3. Locate lake. 4. Enter lake, slowly, up to neck. 5. Enjoy feeling of ridged sand on bottom of feet. 6. Enjoy feeling of cool, clear water on entire body. 7. Enjoy sight of lake meeting the sky. 8. Enjoy absence of stickiness and sweat. *Depending […]
Getting peaceful in Winnetka
I had a blast speaking to the Women’s Exchange in Winnetka on Thursday. I was a bit bleary-eyed from a late flight the night before, but they didn’t seem to mind. And a couple of the attendees even told me about some peaceful places I’d never heard of. Once I’ve checked them out, maybe they’ll […]
Big brother brag
My brother, the incredibly talented woodworker John Ford, has a new web site: john-ford.com. He’s just back from the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, where his beautiful chairs took an ICFF Studio Award. He makes truly amazing things. I mean, look at this. Or this. He’s also a terrific artist. This is a […]
Crowds are the suck
Shortly after moving to Chicago years ago, I went to see the city’s Fourth of July fireworks in Grant Park with my housemates. By the time we got there at 5 PM, there was barely enough room on the grass for our blanket. And after the fireworks ended, we found ourselves walking being carried along […]
How I find those people, anyway
When people find out I’m a freelance writer, they usually ask me what I write about (mostly profiles and travel, some health and religion), whether I write stories and then try to sell them (nope, mostly the reverse), and whether it’s really possible to support oneself this way (yes indeed, though it’s not a cakewalk). And […]
Why trees are freaky good for you
Now that Chicago has decided to have a real spring instead of a fake summer, I’ve been reminded of some research I did last year for an article on the benefits of trees. Turns out trees aren’t just good for the environment; they’re also good for your health in all kinds of unexpected ways. For […]
Peaceful update
About three-quarters of the way through writing Peaceful Places, I hit a wall. I couldn’t find another peaceful place to save my life. And about the fiftieth time that someone suggested the Bahá’í Temple*, I started experiencing a sensation that I’m just going to call not peace. Then, after I had ferreted out all 119 […]