Holidays can be rough. Take today. Not all dads are awesome. Not all dads are here. Not all dads look like dads. I mean, what is a dad exactly? Okay, that's not really where I wanted to go with this. What holiday is rough for you? I'm a mom and like being wished a Happy …
Recently, I saw Everything Everywhere All at Once. I loved it. I loved a movie focusing on someone movies often ignore. I loved the over-the-topness, the maximalist, weirdness. I loved the sincerity and heartfelt storytelling. This weekend I binged watched Undone on Amazon Prime. I didn't plan to binge watch. The story and the animation …
A day late, but Happy Imbolc! Perhaps your corner of the world is like mine right now--cold and coated with ice. Spring will arrive eventually, of course, but in the meantime, there's beauty in the snowy world. There's also dangers for the unhoused and all who must venture on the roads or who can't heat …
Things are changing in our house. (Though life is change, so when are things not changing?) I'll be starting my second job (losing time I've spent writing and making things) and our teen has started college. Then there are the outside forces, the Delta variant and the changes to our climate and whatever-in-the-all-the-levels-of-hell our rage-filled, …
I'm reading Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses. It's a book I wish I'd had years ago. It's a book I needed to read. And it's a reminded that no matter how much you think you know or how openminded you think you are, there is always light to shine in the dark, …
There was a large spider on the floor-length curtains. Large is relative, of course. I'd say it was about the size of the palm of your hand. I've told this story before, but this is in case you missed it. And the point this time is different. I was probably five or six. Before this …
I was planning to write about the winter storm here in Texas, the surprise of being without electricity or heat from 2am Monday to 1am thereabouts Thursday. We didn't lose water, thank goodness, but plenty of my friends and students did. Some people are still without water. Aside from the love, dogs provide heat! We …
Welcome to the New Year and all shining promises. Here in the northern hemisphere, its winter, of course, and while the days may be getting incrementally longer, there remains a lot of dark. It's a time for resolution and reflection, even if you try to ignore that sort of thing. It's a time to look …
(where I grew up ~ starlight added) It's the most contemplative time of year. (Well, not for everyone. Plenty of people may find other points in time more suited for contemplation. Some people seem to have no ability to contemplate much of anything least of all their place in the world and the hardships of …
"Just keep swimming," as the fish says. (You know what fish.) And here we are swimming from one year and into the next, and what a strange body of water it is. This week between Christmas and the New Year is a favorite week of mine. I teach, so I'm always off. But unlike other …
Marta Pelrine-Bacon 