So I've had about enough of this guy: I know, the picture doesn't really give you anything to be immediately irate about. Seemed no matter the angle, I couldn't show how very flat half of that hosta is. So anyway, it's flat. Why? Because we've got a coon that likes to visit at night and... Continue Reading →
I’ve been holding out…
There she is. And there am I, peeking out from m'office. I'm trying to avoid the living room. Why? Because the Last Kid Standing is reading my book, and there is little more terrifying than watching someone read your book. Let me back up... I've been working on this book for a goodly long time.... Continue Reading →
A little update, part deux…
I've been home for a week. I will be honest and tell you that I've only now finally landed. When I travel with the whole of the household, on our many trips through tents and campgrounds and parks a-plenty, I settle back in pretty easily. I unpack like my hair's on fire, I suck in... Continue Reading →
The passage of time (and the Christmas Letter)
I meandered out into the woods this afternoon, a place I've spent shamefully little time this winter. I knew today, almost as soon as I got up, that I would end up out there, and I'm glad that I did. It was a short visit, uneventful, mostly me weaving in and out of trees in... Continue Reading →
A Break
The rains are here this morning. Somehow this is perfect. There is a certain urgency I have in spring when the sun emerges and the weather is warm enough to just sit in that sun and read a book. There is something inside that scolds me if I’m not taking advantage of as much of... Continue Reading →
[Way Back Wednesday] I am misplaced
There it is. October 8th, 2016. A gem. Believe it or not, this post was the beginning of what would become a full feature-length memoir. What is still to become a full feature-length memoir. She's only a few pages away from a completed first draft, and only a few months away from a fully completed... Continue Reading →
[Way Back Wednesday] Moderation, even in writing (gasp)
Up next in the thrilling adventures of the Random Post Generator (Henceforth known as the RPG*), we find ourselves in the puling infancy of kjottinger.com. This time-trip takes us back to October 9, 2014, two weeks into the illustrious blogging career of M'self. Post Numero 5. Of. All. Time. Woah. You can visit young KJ... Continue Reading →
New and Improved!
Last week--or so... let's not get carried away with accuracy--I ventured to equip m'blog with a random post generator. Don't ask me why. Likely I was supposed to be doing something like cleaning out the couch, when the shiny prospect of Having a Fancy New Button caught my eye and entranced me with it's wiles.... Continue Reading →
Nourishment
What is it about time with certain authors that makes me want to write? Anne Lamott. Geneen Roth (kinda). Mike Perry. Looking at the list du jour, it seems that those who make me want to write are those who write like me, or those whom I want to write like, and on my better... Continue Reading →
Dear Children of Mine (aka Mother’s Day 2019)
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 →
Book Review: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year
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 →
A romp through the back alleys of m’noggin
"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 →