Tag Archives: beach

May Tonic (Cursing-in-Private Edition)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by

Trying to use a voucher for 3 free rides to Catalina Island and being told there’s no room on the boat by a severely rude someone you find it extremely difficult to dredge any compassion for simply because of their tone—noticing the pink … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, books, Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Poetry, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

April Lines

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

What a gift-packed month. Poetry has crammed my inbox daily. I went to a Rhapsodomancy reading at the Good Luck bar and listened to knock-you-off-your-feet lines from poets with poetry-spewing-volcanos where scalps should be. 1 day of NaPoWriMo left. So go on. Go write. You know you … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

February Mini-Break

Posted on February 18, 2013 by

This visit, Dana Point-by-the-tru-la-la-ocean was hotter than Reseda by 1, February-heatwaving degree. 79 vs. 78. So of course we escorted my father into the minivan and drove to The Pilgrim and admired its masts and restoration for the gazzilionth time … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, ocean related, Poetry, 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 →

Posted in Fiction, Me and Us, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2013: Resolute

Posted on January 1, 2013 by

1. Stand taller. 2. Be wiser. 3. Mother better. 4. Honor date nights. 4a. find a babysitter after 5 years of not        4b. either more or less caffeine @8pm any Friday night—search for successful eye-propping balance! Ha ha! Fun! 5. … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Notes From Around Town

Posted on October 4, 2012 by

As I idled at a red light, MacArthur Park and Alvarado, a spry, elderly woman entered the crosswalk, head down, waving her arms. She wore a crossing guard’s vest, jeans, running shoes. After she passed my car (of course she … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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

What Beauty Gets You

Posted on August 28, 2012 by

I returned from Big Sur with a line in my head that needed to be inserted into a poem I’m working on. I am lucky the line didn’t leave me, creative synapses firing long and repeatedly enough for me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Quote For The Weekend: Robinson Jeffers (Early Edition)

Posted on August 23, 2012 by

To feel greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the natural Beauty, is the sole business of poetry. The rest’s diversion: those holy or noble sentiments, the intricate ideas, The love, lust, longing: reasons, but not the reason. —Robinson Jeffers … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 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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Status: Guest Blogger

Posted on August 20, 2012 by

Today I am the guest blogger over at M For Mommy. M asked me to write about relaxing and having to write that post made me think: do I relax? Ever? An interesting question to ponder, if not slightly challenging. … 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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Quote(s) For The Weekend (Beach Edition)

Posted on July 8, 2012 by

The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea. –Isak Dinesen We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, ocean related, Quotes, Writer quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Guest Blogging

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

Yesterday, which I thought was Sunday due to the 3 day weekend and synapses firing improperly or not at all after my husband and I watched a late-night Sunday (which I thought was Saturday) Mad Men marathon accompanied by intensely seasoned … Continue reading →

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Quote For The Weekend (Super Late Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Edition)

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

“The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves. The country abounds in grapes, yet they buy, at a great price, bad wine made in Boston…”  ―Richard Henry Dana, Jr. Well, Sir—we’ve come a long way. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Oak Drug

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Oak trees are my valium. Last Saturday I listened to friends chatting and a creek dance over boulders as I gazed up into a canopy of arms at all angles and a puzzle of jagged green leaves on blue sky and—zzzzzz. Whatever … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Fiction, ocean related, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Switched Hats

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

All week I’ve taken a break from my children’s novels in order to scour my grownup novel—a few chapters a night. I have revised as I’ve read (of course), refusing to backtrack until I make it to The End. Or—something mostly kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Adult writing, Children's Books, Fiction, ocean related, Poetry, To Explain, Writer's Angst, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

3 Days Of Light

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

I’ve been visiting here since I was 4 years old and still this beach works magic on my psyche. At least, it feels like magic. I don’t wait to be struck by lightning and don’t need certain slants of light in … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, ocean related, Pets, Writer quotes, Writing, Writing Progress | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 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 →

Posted in ocean related, Poetry, Santa Barbara, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition As Was OOT With Feet In Ocean, Wot!)

Posted on February 18, 2012 by

Most of us are called on to perform tasks far beyond what we can do. Our capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers at heart. —Lloyd Alexander I … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Quotes, Writer quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Quote For The Weekend (Superbowl Edition)

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

1. In modern war…you will die like a dog for no good reason. 2. Man is not made for defeat. —Ernest Hemingway I regret not going into Hemingway’s house when I was in Key West. Instead I stood out on … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Quotes, Writer quotes, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 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

Wet Beach

Posted on October 25, 2011 by

Pashmina fog. You can’t really write that, but–”smoky” is cliché, the cat feet brilliance is spoken for and I have a gray pashmina I never wear that is the hue and untouchable texture of  last Saturday morning’s fog. You cannot write … Continue reading →

Posted in Avoiding My Writing, ocean related, Writer's Angst, Writing, WTF | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments