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Tag Archives: the writer’s life

Recording my book

In the 1990s I commuted into New York City on the bus. Several times a week my seatmate was Roy Yokelson, an Emmy-winning sound engineer, owner of Antland Productions.  We saw each other through some rough times.  Roy calls me his “therapist,” and I feel the same about him.  When I moved to the next townContinue reading “Recording my book”

Tragedy all around

Yoga evens you out and strengthens you, but more importantly, meditation (which simply means sitting there and breathing) invites strength and balance to deal with tragedy and pessimism. So what is the pessimism of the day?  Global warming, which threatens our very existence, the unexpected accidental death of an extraordinary person you know, the massContinue reading “Tragedy all around”

Report from Austria: The Cloud

I brought a box of soap to my Austrian friends as a hospitality gift.  It was found in a drawer in my aunt’s house, which I have recently cleared out after her move into an assisted living facility. The box is of fine black, durable, shiny cardboard, is about a foot long and a fewContinue reading “Report from Austria: The Cloud”

Report from Marseilles

There were hundreds, hundreds, more than I have ever seen, of sailing boats and other boats in the marina in the middle of Marseilles’s downtown, a sign of enormous wealth and privilege. But the rest of the city was disturbing.  More than once I was jostled more closely than normal and I clutched my BaggaliniContinue reading “Report from Marseilles”

Digital Slaves – The Discipline of Money

I’m reading a book, Who Owns the Future?, by the “father of virtual reality,” Jeron Lanier. His starting point is stated in the “prelude.” “…digital networking ought to promote a two-way transaction, in which you benefit, concretely, with real money….  I want digital networking to cause more value from people to be on the books,Continue reading “Digital Slaves – The Discipline of Money”

Report from Paris: III Mostly Toilets

Today I will write mostly about toilets. I’ve seen quite a few in my time, beginning with outhouses and holes-in-the-ground in the Maine woods in the 50s, but today will begin with the most amazing toilet I’ve ever seen, a public toilet on the streets of Paris. It is an oblong building, with a drinkingContinue reading “Report from Paris: III Mostly Toilets”