I'm going to do this thing today. I'm going to write this and I'm not going to change a thing. I'm not even going to fix my typos. I'm going to show you how imperfect I can be. Ugh. This is not comfortable. This is not how I like to show up. But...

I’m the first to admit that the so-called holiday season generally fills me with as much dread as joy. Talk about pressure! My family celebrates Christmas, at least nominally - when my oldest daughter was four, she asked why there was a baby...

Clothing! Necessities we humans have turned into an obsession. Seems like a lot of trouble, but you can’t wander around naked, am I right?

We humans are all about signifying – our intentions, our moods, our status. Clothing is a...

I’m not a huge fan of holidays, much to the chagrin of my children. I find them stressful and generally a lot of work and expectation for a single day’s celebration.

But Christmas is coming! As is Hanukkah, Kwanza, Boxing...

There’s a little game I like to play, when I’m contemplating doing something that makes me really, really, really nervous.

I ask myself, "What’s the worst that could happen?"

A question to uncover every negative outcome.

...

There's a little project I've been meaning to do in my house for, oh, around two years? It involves putting up a clothing rod in a tiny closet in a small room in the basement. This is putatively my oldest daughter's bedroom, though she has somehow...

I like down time. I mean, I REALLY like downtime. By which I mean chunks of time in which I have absolutely no commitments. And few distractions.

When the whole world went on lockdown I felt the joy of real freedom.

No more meetings! No more driving...

Lest you think that it's all minimalism and cheerfully doing without over here, let me tell you the story of the red leather ball. An insignificant possession that has caused me hours of agonized ambivalence.

I owned this ball for many years. In...

The other day I was on one of those hugely populated Zoom calls, saying hello to people I hadn't seen in a while before the meeting got going.

Lots of private messages. And there was that lovely woman whom I consider a friend, and I sent her a "so...

A couple of weeks ago some Terrible Human started taking money out of my bank account, disguised as Facebook. I wish I could blame it on the real Facebook, what with their disregard for human decency and crappy business practices, but alas I think...

We've had a friend living with us this summer. He's young and adventurous; he came to us after a long stint on a boat in Alaska. A month ago he was preparing for a several-month road trip. Just had to get a few things fixed on the 2003 Mazda that...

Greetings from the city with the worst air quality in the world!

If you're not in Oergon or California, know that this choking smoke has officially closed the outdoors. I'm asthmatic, so I'm holed up in my bedroom, with the air filter running . My...