My Little Boy is Growing Up

It all makes me realize that my baby’s getting older (and therefore, so am I).

Money-saving tips for the middle class Part 2: Food

Food is, of course, the most basic of our needs beyond water and air (and toilet paper!). Isn’t it funny how we take these simple things for granted? You breathe in and out, you pull on the roll, you turn on the tap, you pop a Lean Cuisine into the microwave, or answer, “Yes”, to “Fries with that?” Easy, automatic, instant. But of course, it’s not. All of these things, with the exception of air, require a complicated combination of infrastructure and workforce to get to us. We only think about it when the system breaks down (imagine a toilet paper factory worker’s strike!), or when we pay our bills.

A Very Personal Post: Ectopic Pregnancy and Losing a Baby

I wrote this back in June, when it happened, and since then I haven’t even felt like writing on this blog. On top of that, we’ve had various computer issues. Anyway, now I’m getting organized again, and I feel I have to put this on, for women who might be having the same problem:
This [...]

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

I found this book at the free store and almost didn’t take it. It looked kind of cool, a hand with candy sprinkles all over it. But the description, about a man with an addiction who goes through rehab didn’t sound that exciting. I’ve read a few of those, and they’re mostly over-Christiany, “feel sorry [...]

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

I’m always interested when I see an “Oprah’s Book Club” seal on a novel, and I’ve never yet been disappointed. They are always haunting, thought-provoking, realistic stories. Once again, I was not disappointed.
The story is from the point of view of the 14 year old daughter (Connie) of a Vermont midwife (Sibyl). The [...]

Money-saving tips for the middle class Part 1: Transportation

Unless you work from home, transportation is a necessity. But it need not be expensive.

You don’t need three cars. You probably don’t even need two cars. And you could likely get by with no car at all, especially in the city. If you live in a larger city, you probably have a bus available. [...]

The River Why by David James Duncan

This is one of those rare perfect books that I will want to keep forever to loan out to friends in need of enlightenment or encouragement. It has everything: a good storyline; characters that are real, complex and that you would want to meet in real life; it’s funny; it talks about the Northwest US [...]

Gripe About Myspace

I recently tried to cancel my Myspace account, because it is causing “personal drama”. It’s an incredibly difficult process these days. You have to confirm twice that you want to cancel, and write why. Then, you have to receive an e-mail and click on a link in that to confirm once more that you really [...]

Whale Rider Movie Review

Whale Rider is a lovely little movie about a rural Maori town in New Zealand and their search for a leader. It’s about the struggle for a little girl to be accepted, about the struggle between tradition and modern ideas, fulfilling your dreams, and about love within a family and within a community. It introduces [...]

Movie Review: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I absolutely love to see Jim Carey in a serious role. I think that Kate Winslet is beautiful. Charlie Kaufman (screenwriter for Adaptation and Being John Malkovich among others) is brilliant. And I think that Michel Gondry is an absolute genius. It also has Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst stoned in her underwear (jumping on [...]