Today, March 20th, is the first day of spring.  I love spring. It is the time when the sun's heat grows stronger and the earth is reborn in blooms of color.  Spring is the ancient promise of how the world can emerge from darkness to light, from the detritus of fall and winter to the … Continue reading In search of spring

These are the cards I'm leaving with my acts of kindness:I think it helps people to know what the intention of the act is and to encourage them to pass on the kindness to others. Performing acts of kindness makes me feel very self-conscious. Kindness requires involving others in a way I didn't quite anticipate.  … Continue reading The Kindness Project: A Day of Many Acts

I thought up this project a few months ago, right around the Christmas holiday, when I considered how much we, as a culture, focused on things instead of people. For my birthday I've asked others to do random acts of kindness on my behalf instead of buying me gifts. Because I truly believe that small … Continue reading The Kindness Project: #1

On August 21, 2012, just as the new day came into being, a train derailed in Ellicott City, Maryland. Two young girls were sitting on the train bridge over Main Street and were crushed to death in the accident.  I've been thinking about those girls and that accident ever since it happened. The metal stairs … Continue reading How Everything Changes

Twenty One Pilots is my latest music obsession. They are based in Columbus, Ohio and I heard them on the local college radio station here in Cleveland. I really love this song, "House of Gold" (If you go to their site, you can download a few of their songs for free). On their website, they … Continue reading Music Monday: Twenty One Pilots

I'm catching up on some of the books I read last year. Stones for Ibarra (Penguin, 1984) by Harriet Doerr was one of my favorites.Here is the blurb from the publisher:Two Americans, Richard and Sara Everton, are the only foreigners in Ibarra. They live among people who both respect and misunderstand them, and gradually, the … Continue reading On My Bookshelf: Stones for Ibarra

I recently finished reading "The Orchard: A Memoir" by Theresa Weir (Grand Central, 2011) at the recommendation of a friend. I'm so glad that I took her suggestion and delved into this work.  At first I had a little bit of trouble connecting with the narrator and the wry voice. At the start, the narrator … Continue reading On My Bookshelf: "The Orchard: A Memoir" by Theresa Weir

In keeping with my theme of the last few Mondays, here is some music. "Another Travelin Song" by Bright Eyes. And yes, all these songs are on a play list titled "Riding the Blind." It is the soundtrack to my book, stuff I listened to while I wrote and revised.As far as the video here, … Continue reading Another Travelin Song

Love, InshAllah: The Secret Lives of American Muslim Woman by Nura Maznavi and Ayesha Mattu is an anthology that was released in January 2012 by SoftSkull Press.  Here is the synopsis from the publisher:"Full of warmth and wit, real-life love stories by American Muslim women whose romances are as individual as they areIn this groundbreaking … Continue reading On My Bookshelf – Love InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women

Mondays are always a little blah, aren't they? I've decided to spice mine up with some music. Here is Robert Johnson's recording of "Walking Blues"  listen for this --"Leavin this mornin I have to ride a blindbabe, I been mistreatedbaby, I don't mind dyin"