Tales from the Nexus
I vacuumed under my couch cushions this morning. Da clean couch You see, last weekend one of the adult kiddos was here with a visiting friend. Said friend spent most of the weekend on my couch, relaxing from her hellish semester at college, staring blankly at her phone, and digging her stockinged feet in between... Continue Reading →
Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott Just as she chronicled the first year with her son, Sam, Anne Lamott this time lays bare her first year with Sam's son, Jax. And of course she does it beautifully. Lamott is Lamott, and the artistry with which she washes her familial story will keep me coming back... Continue Reading →
This post has been kind of falling together for a few days. How fitting that it's ready to hit the interwebs on Mother's Day... Anne Lamott wrote this letter to her Grandson Jax at 4 months old: "Dear Jax: Yesterday was your first Thanksgiving, and it is time for me to impart to you the secret... Continue Reading →
All these years--there have been so many--I've been writing book reviews in Goodreads, and then copying and pasting things over here to m'blog, and maybe adding in a little bit more flavor as a sort of prelude. Apparently I think the followers of the blog are in it for something different than the Good People... Continue Reading →
I haven’t been writing much lately. Not enough time. Not enough brain space. Sometimes one has to withdraw from the writing to engage in the life. Let’s call it a Lenten switchup. I’ll be back after Pascha, I’m sure. But I have had great occasion recently to wonder with fear and trembling at the tremendous... Continue Reading →
"Within the heart are unfathomable depths. It is not a small vessel: and yet dragons and lions live there, and there are poisonous creatures and all the treasures of wickedness; rough, uneven paths are there, and gaping chasms. There, likewise, is God, there are the angels, there life and the Kingdom, there light and the... Continue Reading →
"Is it possible to practice noticing? I think so. But I also think it requires a suspension of yearning And a pause in the desire to be pouring something out of yourself. Noticing is about letting yourself out into the world, Rather than siphoning the world into yourself in order to transmute it into words.... Continue Reading →
We had ten male cardinals at the feeder yesterday. Six females hanging out in the wings. We don't usually get that many. Not at once. Beautiful! The blue jays were missing yesterday, too, like we were part of some neighborhood bird exchange program. Hmm... We did get another foot (and then some) of snow this... Continue Reading →
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think that The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse has been on my to-read shelf for almost a decade. Back in the days when my super-reader-friends were just introducing me to good... Continue Reading →
So... About that thing I whined about for an entire month, and then never even talked about after it happened... Observant readers may have noticed that December's Truth Be Told event wasn't the end of me. Truth be told, I thought it might be. There was a bit of complaining. And whining. Lemme' just look back...... Continue Reading →
This is it, folks. The third annual WWF Retreat is coming to an end tomorrow. Sad Face. 😦 To avoid confusion and possible excommunication, I'll just lay things bare: WWF in this version of reality means Writing With Friendsand Writing With Friends only. To commemorate the end of the world as we know it, I'd... Continue Reading →
Nabs, in her favorite spot. In 2010, we took our first trip into the Boundary Waters with kids in tow. Two years prior, we ventured in for our honeymoon, and resolved to somehow figure a way to get all the kids into the wilderness with us. Spoiler Alert: Careful readers will note that the Annual... Continue Reading →
I had to make a clandestine run for breast milk this morning. One of the kiddos, who shall remain nameless, appears to have contracted pinkeye over the weekend, and for those who don't know, breast milk is the single best cure for pinkeye. Scoff if you must, but don't cry to me about your goop.... Continue Reading →
I was recently asked to be one of the featured storytellers for the next installment of Truth Be Told, an open mic storytelling event that our local celebrities—I had no idea that I didn’t have a clue how to spell celebrities until this moment… huh—anyway, an event that our local celebrities Steve and Kobi have... Continue Reading →
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz My goodreads rating: 5 of 5 stars I've been on a serious non-fiction jag. Kind of a non-reading jag, really. Summer and all that, I suppose. Not sure how it throws me so far off kilter, but it does. Regardless, when fall... Continue Reading →
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater My rating: 5 of 5 stars Can I give it six stars? Eight? I need more stars. A few weeks ago I was driving across the Colorado desert with my 18yo and she suddenly drops into a reminiscent haze in the midst of the red rocks and tumbleweed.... Continue Reading →
It’s day five of my five-day writing retreat, and I am winding down my time here in this Northwoods cottage with some of my writer buds. Two hours and counting, if you should want to keep track. The place we have this year is great. Spacious, warm, clean, and cozy. I don't have a lot... Continue Reading →
I spent a few primetime hours in the emergency room last night. There has been a nefarious flipflopping in the vicinity of my ticker over the past few days, and when the frequency of the internal acrobatics reached sub-minute intervals—recorded much like timing contractions, only without the pain, and adding the joy of a stethoscope—I... Continue Reading →
Huh. Just found this in my drafts folder from a couple months back. Guess I never hit Publish. Cheers... Nat Goldberg. There are few writers that I count on to bring me out of a rut every time. Why she is one of them, I don't even know, but she is indeed that buoy that brings... Continue Reading →
Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott My rating: 5 of 5 stars My first Anne Lamott. I know. But it is. I loved most of it. I love her brokenness shining forth unapologetically, unabashed vulnerability, and snarky humor. Thus, Anne Lamott is a hit. But I do have to say that... Continue Reading →
Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Another homerun from Fredrik Backman. Wow. Britt-Marie Was Here follows Britt-Marie of My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry fame through the next stage of her life, and it does so with deep compassion and beauty. If you've read about Elsa... Continue Reading →
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman My rating: 5 of 5 stars This one was so good I couldn't wait until I was done. I wrote a little preview a few days ago. If you haven't read that, go here first: Book PREview: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell... Continue Reading →
I don't know if I've ever caressed a book so much. Rainy days rock 🙂 KJ
I don't know if I've ever written a book review before I've finished the book, and I certainly don't intend to start now. But I feel strongly enough about this particular book that it deserves some sort of a mention, right now, even though I'm smack dab in the middle of it. Fredrik Backman owns... Continue Reading →
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce My rating: 5 of 5 stars If it is possible, Queenie's story is even more compelling than Harold's. This is a beautiful book. Harold's story, from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, is told here from the perspective of the woman he is walking to... Continue Reading →
![[Way Back Wednesday] A confession...](https://kjottinger.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/a-confession....jpg?resize=40%2C40){kind=small}
