I dreamt last night that I was defending my doctoral thesis?I have no idea what the subject or conclusion was?and one of the “judges” asked me if I were willing to be wrong about my findings. I started in on some explanation about how all research involves a fair amount of conjecture and guesswork, but…

Washington County’s patron saint of lost and needy animals strikes again. This is the LONG version. (This will probably end up being a blog.) Let’s skip over the part where Nanook was having his own mini-crisis this morning. My neighbor called at 7:30 this morning in a panic. While walking their dogs last night, her…

Recently, several people have asked about the process of writing, and how a person goes about writing a book. While there are plenty of books and guides available today to walk new and would-be writers through precisely that process, there’s no substitute for the wisdom of experience?and for each writer, new and accomplished alike, that…

I have been thinking recently about the incredible wealth of inherent gifts and talents?our true natural resources as human beings?that go untapped the world over, day upon day, lifetime after lifetime. Many of us never know what inspired abilities lurk just beneath the surface of our daily responsibilities and consciousness, while others are painfully aware…

Don’t ask me why, but several weeks ago, I got a strong craving for Hostess cupcakes. Not those chocolate ones that Dad preferred, but the orange-flavored cupcakes with yellow icing that I had loved as a child. After a couple of days of trying to deny my desire, I gave in and went to the…

Early this morning, the State of California executed Stanley Tookie Williams?by means of lethal injection?for his conviction of the robbery murders of four people in Los Angeles in 1979. Those who know me well understand that one of the reasons I left my home state of Virginia was to distance myself from such frequent use…

I was talking with a friend recently about her decades’ long struggle with her body image, and railing against the little voice inside that kept telling her, “When I lose weight, I’ll be happy.” She has been lucky enough to understand that in reality it’s the other way around?that when she’s happy, she has a…