Every morning in Massachusetts, I make a pot of tea. Black and white china decorated with the names of English foods (“Fresh Milk & Jersey Cream” says my milk jug), tea cosy covered in a flowery print, tray I bought at John Lewis. And strong Assam to drink. Some days, I make myself a slice of crisp toast spread with Marmite. I left London over 25 years ago, with two preschool children, to find a better life in a small town, in the country where I was born. But on [...]
I came across this blog post, "I Tweeted About The Joker Being a Woman Who Was Tired of This Shit and It Now Feels Auto-Biographical." It made me smile, then laugh. "The Joker should have been a woman. And she finally went insane because too many random dudes told her to smile, so now she perpetually smiles while terrorizing Gotham." Geraldine @everywhereist Here's a little from Geraldine DeRuiter’ s explanation of how she came to this revelation: I wrote this tweet in the lobby of a hotel in downtown Seattle [...]
(First published at berkshirepublishing.com.) “Let us pray.” On Wednesday I heard a prayer – “grace” – said before dinner for the first time in years. “Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful evening and for our fellowship.” “Help us to serve those in need.” I’d been invited to talk about the Train Campaign at the Episcopal church’s men’s dinner group. No one I asked knew about this; everyone said I should go. I had to know, not only out of curiosity but because I would need to report on it to Ray [...]
This is a good description of what I see sometimes, the retreat from reality to the screen (first, second, sometimes even third). What interests me most is why? What are we retreating from, and seeking? Sure this is happening, our behavior is changing, because we have the means in our hands. Companies are profiting hugely from the shift. But what is it that we're after, as we peer into that tiny bright rectangle? What am I after, writing here? Because we know that we can always get on Facebook, or [...]
The town I live in ("some of the time," my neighbors might say) is known for efforts to promote local businesses as part of a sustainable regional economy. I've written about them and will be writing more. When I came across this article, which mentions the "sense of community," I wondered if such a thing could happen in Great Barrington. And I wondered if the good feeling that motivated the "mob" shoppers would keep them coming back, again and again. While Black has been fending media calls, Shutts and her [...]