What I learned about Prince from tuning my piano
The cherry wood is likely a faux finish. It didn’t matter. This was the spinet piano I grew up playing, taking lessons from Mrs. Myrtle Muench from the time I was four and my feet didn’t hit the pedals, to when I graduated from high school. I walked to her apartment …
thinking thursday : some far-flung items to think about
MIND What is the neuroscience of happiness and how can you wire your brain for happiness? And what does depression look like? I am spending a lot of time with the concept of “shenpa” these days. Creating new habitual patterns. This is not unrelated to the neuroscience of happiness, above. BODY Wherein …
poetry wednesday : you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing
Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a weakened broth. What you held in your hand, what you counted and carefully saved, all this must go so you know how desolate …
Speak Me a River: Resurrecting the Lost Art of Conversation
Every so often, a friend of my husband’s from elementary school flies across the country and comes to visit. It is in these moments that I am reintroduced to the lost and lovely art of the conversation. Hours-long talks over three days, the sort that have no intention, no agenda, …
thinking thursday : a trip around the web
MIND If you can’t see the world, you can read the world. The first boy diagnosed as autistic was born in 1933. Do you need to quiet your frazzled mind? BODY How about some brutally honest illustrations of adulthood? In case you are planning a funeral, here’s a list that …
Poetry Wednesday : The Art of Disappearing
I, too, carry this poem with me to remind me of the “no,” of all those times I should become a cabbage in order to remember what is important.
thinking thursday : debris from the web I have bumped into while floating
MIND How handwriting trains the brain. And, speaking of handwriting. Can it make you smarter? How did autistic people shape the modern world? If you need to learn about running your own business, here are some online courses for you. BODY Is your favorite chocolate on this list? Speaking of …
poetry wednesday : the only thing I’m sure I want is what I have.
I Wish I Want I Need BY Gail Mazur The black kitten cries at her bowl meek meek and the gray one glowers from the windowsill. My hand on the can to serve them. First day of spring. Yesterday I drove my little mother for hours through wet snow. Her eightieth …
Dog treats and human trophies
My floor is full of dog treats, like a map of canine wandering, or perhaps wondering. A bone-shaped one near the kitchen, a tiny steak-shaped one near the piano, small ones that could be mistaken for large rabbit poops near the fireplace. They are shocking to come upon sometimes, until …
the widow maker
I learned at cardiac rehab this week that my artery that was 90% blocked was the infamous “Widow Maker,” so named because it is responsible for those sudden deaths that come on without any warning. I told John and he said we talked about this in the hospital, that the …
