Category Archives: Santa Barbara

Clues

Posted on March 3, 2013 by

So it’s time to leave the Little House and tear him away from several days of precious Pottery Barn living and Angry Birds on the Kindle at odd hours and foods we don’t normally eat at home, like grated-cheese-and-nitrate-free-bacon-quesadillas-for-breakfast-with-1-maraschino-cherry-on-top, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, dog, Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Beach Break

Posted on January 14, 2013 by

This was last weekend, all Winter beachness, crisp, clear light, air cold enough for us to wear sweaters we haven’t seen in over a year, sweaters with jeans and sweats and bare feet as we ran on glassy beach, Anacapa, … Continue reading →

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And May All Your Turkeys Be Bright

Posted on November 21, 2012 by

It is 197-something and there are cats on the kitchen counter pulling apart the cooked bird with their claws and fangs. It is 199-something and a slobbery Rottweiler mix has hold of a turkey leg and the entire baking pan with turkey … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Santa Barbara, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Note From The Writing House

Posted on October 1, 2012 by

As I write, a fountain bubbles outside remarkable windows. It was bubbling when we arrived. No note was left instructing me to turn it, or the fountain outside the guest bedroom off, and I wasn’t about to go hunting for control panels … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, ocean related, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The After 9/11/2001 Post

Posted on September 12, 2012 by

Last year I posted this piece on 9/11/11, the crux of which is: One morning, as my boss and I walked across campus after a 9/11 tribute during which she’d read a poem to hundreds gathered at the special ceremony, … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tribute To Mike deGruy

Posted on August 22, 2012 by

Mike DeGruy loved the ocean. He wrote about it, filmed it, lectured on it (all over the world, to all ages), explored it. He died last February in a helicopter crash, in the midst of doing research for a film … Continue reading →

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Snow White Revisted (Part II)

Posted on August 15, 2012 by

I drove up to Santa Barbara by myself, for a change. High school reunion—the first I’ve ever been to, but not the first my friends have been to and it’s only because of Tdoll and Ddazzle and our nearly life-long … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, Santa Barbara, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Snow White Revisited (Part I)

Posted on August 13, 2012 by

And just like that, 2 hours of sitting in traffic was replaced by the type of couch that swallows you in a smooth, nerves-loosening manner, windows looking out on lush greenery, walls hung tastefully in my sister’s collection of California plein air, … Continue reading →

Posted in Faction, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Anteater Elegance

Posted on July 30, 2012 by

At the Santa Barbara Zoo, a fellow mother and I gazed at the anteater flicking its tongue at grass and slowly waving its unbrushed, showhorse-arched tail. Behind us, our 4 ½ year old boys practiced “Ninja” moves and tested their … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Yet Another “Revision” Edition)

Posted on July 29, 2012 by

I work hard, I work very hard. All the books at leat 30 revisions. —Ha Jin In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don’t enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover … Continue reading →

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Roar While You Can

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

I picked up the preschooler from his place of happy learning and song and drove him up the coast to a museum party celebrating a new installation of animatronic dinosaurs. My husband phoned as I stood in a vast, beamed hall … Continue reading →

Posted in Me and Us, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Brief Blog Break

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

I am stamping the blog with a poem instead of PB’s impressions as I prepare to hoof it out of town.  Hoping that this get-away reboots my brain and produces thousands of words as I work on a certain bit of sequel. T … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Tide Pool Edition)

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

“If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.” —Rachel Carson … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, fish, ocean related, Quotes, Santa Barbara, Writer quotes, Writing, Writing Tips | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

I Told You So

Posted on January 16, 2012 by

We hit town late afternoon-ish and I immediately honor the request for the museum and its entertaining dinosaur footprints indented in cement, pgymy mammoth bones, taxidermied (the fraying sort) mountain animals and vultures, buttons igniting barn owl shrieks and snake … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Miss MOL Break

Posted on December 23, 2011 by

Sometimes I live vicariously through Miss MOL, an art curator by-the-sea. I love her recent sojourn. She hits all the cool places and makes me laugh. Check out her latest post on the Springs. THREE DAY TOUR.

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Pass The Cognac, Baby

Posted on October 3, 2011 by

My husband and I are parents not used to going out in the evening together—just us— no preschooler in tow. I may hit a book club or Target by myself around 8p.m. My husband may work late one or two … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Me and Us, Poetry, poetry reading, Santa Barbara, To Explain, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Quote For The Weekend (Early Edition As Leaving, Again, Briefly, For Cooler Environs That Happen To Include Beach-Whooping, Intrepid Anemone Poking (parent-monitored), Kicked Sandcastles And The Kind Of Fresh Air That Knocks Out Preschoolers And Their Mothers In A Very, Very Good Way)

Posted on September 22, 2011 by

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Early Edition Due To Fleeing The Heat For Environs Non-Inclusive Of Internet But Very Beauty-And-Beach-Infused, Which Means Instant Writing Angst As I Am Distracted By Natural Wonders–Although I May Surprise Myself—er, Or Surprise My Muse By Taking Her Phonecall Before It Vanishes Into Late-Night Candles, Sweetly Bubbling Fountains And Stargazing…??? Oh. Yes. I Really Need To Get Away)

Posted on September 1, 2011 by

“Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on.” —John Steinbeck

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Respite Rant

Posted on August 19, 2011 by

In the past 24 hours my youngest sister and family made it home to Iowa in what was supposed to be a 3 hour tour, I mean a 4 hour flight, but quickly morphed into one of those all-nighter/early-next-morning nightmares during … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Sunday Post-Reveling W/Family Edition)

Posted on July 31, 2011 by

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life – to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories. ~George Eliot

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Me and Us, Santa Barbara, To Explain | 1 Comment

Tra La La

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

And now there is no time to be afraid of anything as tomorrow my son and I once again head N.O.R.T.H. Our beach awaits. As do sisters and cousins and beachside cafes and grilled cheese sandwiches made by someone other … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, ocean related, Santa Barbara, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Watermelon People, For Instance

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

My head and my brain are still at the writing retreat, clicking away, processing vitals, etc. I hope they are enjoying themselves. I returned home with my son to a house packed with visitors both human and canine, dinner for 8 … Continue reading →

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The Baby Blessing (With Writers)

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

So the baby blessing took place in my mother’s faintly overgrown backyard, guests’ heads thunked by falling trumpet vine blossoms (they are as large and as heavy as some sandwiches), the mingling of shadows and vines and succulents forcing the … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, ocean related, Santa Barbara, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Retreat

Posted on July 6, 2011 by

Tomorrow I go off the grid and to my borrowed writing-house, get-away-pad, writing-retreat-with-fountain for a few days. Since there will be no wireless connection, I will revise sans the usual distractions (Facebook, The Pioneer Woman, Yahoo “News”, hulu) while my son eats … Continue reading →

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Going Home

Posted on June 26, 2011 by

The problem with zipping up to my hometown some weekends is not the going-home-traffic turning 75 miles into 750, not that I rarely get any writing done because of the endless activities, not the June gloom (kindly vanishing for the … Continue reading →

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