What do you wanna know?

What do you wanna know?

October 18, 2016 / 1 Comment

I frequently use social media to ask questions of my friends and readers. Their answers give me insights and inspiration as well as sate my curiosity about the world. Last week, I offered myself up for an “Ask Me Anything” session. Here are the fun queries I received:

WHAT MOVIES HAVE ROCKED YOUR WORLD LATELY?

“Sully,” “I’ll See You In My Dreams,” “Money Monster” and “Age of Adeline.”

DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?

If you’ve seen the movie “A Few Good Men,” you know the only answer to this one is: “You’re goddamn right I did!”

FAVORITE PLACE YOU’VE LIVED SO FAR AND WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?

Top place I’ve lived? New York City. As for where I want to live… ultimately, I’d like to live in Scotland. I’d also like to reside in Canada, London and New Zealand. At the moment, we’re trying to move to the Manchester/Nashua area.

WHAT’S SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU?

I really enjoy receiving mail.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?

Kittens. A winning lottery ticket. An accepted bid and quick closing. Anything on my wish list.

WHAT’S YOUR NEXT QUERY?

What are you going to be for Halloween?

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE FOR HALLOWEEN?

Due to our current circumstances, I’m not dressing up this year.

DO YOU CRY EASILY?

I never used to. Now I cry at the drop of a hat.

WOULD YOU RATHER BE HATED OR FORGOTTEN?

Forgotten.

WHO WILL YOU VOTE FOR?

I vote for leaving the country and becoming an expat.

WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED LATELY?

Over the summer, M and I saw Judd Hirsch star in the play “The Stone Witch.” His character, an aging children’s book writer and illustrator, urged his young protege to always “value your work.” At that exact moment, I needed to hear it, too.
“Without creation, what are we but stalled in life?”

November 23, 2015 / No Comments

Cake layers are baking. Frosting’s in the fridge. In a couple of hours, I shall assemble the two and make a blackout cake to rival anything found at the local bakery. Once topped with candles, I shall make my wish, extinguish the flames and celebrate turning 42 by eating the chocolate-y creation.

A dear friend of mine called not long after midnight to wish me a happy birthday. He does this every year because he is both thoughtful and cognizant of the fact that I’m actually awake at that hour. When I mentioned my plans to bake a birthday cake, he was a bit taken aback. However, as I explained to him, baking is a joy for me. Creating something delicious out of ordinary ingredients is the perfect way to start a new year.

As any artist or writer, baker or filmmaker, musician or mother can tell you, the process of creation is both difficult and magical. Yet having the freedom to do so, in any form, is not something I take for granted. It is that freedom I bear in my mind as I write these words. It is that freedom I recall when I see stories about journalists being imprisoned and killed for doing their jobs. Or when I read about the planned executions of poets. Or when I hear about musicians, and their fans, fleeing gunfire.

Why anyone would want to halt the beauty of creation is beyond me. But as I begin another anniversary of existence on this planet, I vow to spend more time creating, and less time stressing out about those who are only able to destroy that which they do not understand.

–Quote by Dhani Jones. Photo by Vladvvm. Used with permission.
Just a reminder: Happy birthday to you!

June 4, 2015 / No Comments

One of my favorite features of social media is the birthday reminder.

Whenever I receive these emails or spy a notice on a newsfeed, I do my best to take a moment and send good cheer. Generally I’m one of many to wish the happy, yet doing so feels good because no matter how difficult life can be, birthdays should be enthusiastically celebrated.

The downside of birthday reminders is… well, death. It always makes my heart ache when I receive one of these alerts for a friend or family member who’s died in the past year. Instead of being reminded of joy, I recall the loss of their passing. And it hurts to know they won’t have another birthday.

Yesterday, I thought about my high school sweetheart all day. Although he died a few years ago, June 3rd has long been a day I noticed because it was his birthday. So even though he’s gone, I can’t help but recall the times we shared and the years we did not. A few hours ago, I received a birthday email for a writer on Livejournal that I followed for more than a decade. He died last year and the loss of his voice has made reading that site just a little less required.
Just the facts, ma’am

January 3, 2014 / No Comments

It’s Friday. Time for some fascinating factoids about the world:

* 41% percent of all Vermont lawmakers are women; that’s the highest percentage in the nation. (VPR)

* 12 humans have walked on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first, in 1969. (The Weather Channel)

* If you lined up all the M&Ms made in 1 year, they would encircle the earth 48 times. (The Daily Click)

* Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital. (The History Channel)

* I am right-handed, but I never wear a watch on my left wrist. When I wear a watch, it goes on my right wrist.