In France, in order to protect women from being oppressed by Muslim men who tell them what to wear, white men with guns force women to take their clothes off. I have so much fury and contempt for this racism, Islamophobia, and misogyny disguised as “liberation” and “secular values” that I don’t even have enough… Read more »
the sea
Scenes from the Aquarium
One day this past week, I sat on the ledge of the footbridge while the sun was setting, with my feet hanging over the water. There was a little old lady watching the sunset next to me (she was not on the ledge), and I thought to myself, Oh, that’s the kind of little old… Read more »
Reading and the Cosmos
I’m almost always in the process of reading a book; often I’m reading two. It’s not unusual for me to be reading three. (There’s also a scattering of a half-dozen books that I read at the pace of a snail across years, but I’m not counting those here – I’m talking about books I’m actively… Read more »
“The Nantucketer, he alone resides and rests on the sea.”
For years he knows not the land; so that when he comes to it at last, it smells like another world, more strangely than the moon would to an Earthsman. With the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight… Read more »
Got Out of Town on a Boat *
A ferry story in 26 pictures requires a jump break. Click on “read more” below to see the rest. Codename: Kate the Great and I drove to the ferry dock in Vineyard Haven, the harbor of Tisbury,on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. We got there early and watched truck after truck after truck… …moving trucks,… Read more »
Happy Spring
Sure is spring-like around here. This No Blogging thing is intensely peaceful, but I thought I’d break in with a few things that’ve been piling up. First, the Horn Book Magazine asked me what’s the strangest children’s book I’ve ever read… so I wrote them a little piece about Moomins. If you can’t get your… Read more »
The Ingredients for a Beautiful Day in Gloucester
Picturesque boats, gorgeous skies, fishermen in the rain, and humpback whales.
Dreams, Whales, Books
I’ve been rather itinerant for the last week or so… did some visiting, some birthday celebrating, and so much reading that you’d think I’d be reading in my dreams. Instead, I had a dream that Shah Rukh Khan raided my suitcase, stole my pants, wore them in a rainstorm and ruined them. This is nearly… Read more »
Ring the bells that still can ring…
Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything — That’s how the light gets in. – Leonard Cohen It has been a lovely few days. The photo shoot on Thursday was an absolute hoot, thanks to my photographer, Jensen Hande, who has a great personality and knows just how to coax out my… Read more »
