Category Archives: Uncategorized

God, this is turning into such a sewing blog.  I am so sorry. Just had to share these pajama pants I made for myself.  Good lord, they are loud.  You know what else they are?  Maybe the most comfortable things I have ever put on my body.  Seriously, in a few minutes, I’m supposed toContinue reading “More sewing!”

Look what I’ve got in my hot little hands!  It literally came out today and I was of course first in line to get it at the library.  In fact, I’m still at the library–I couldn’t wait to share. For a writer, reading is an essential part of maintaining and developing the craft.  For meContinue reading “The care and feeding of your writing self”

I’m in my bathrobe in my messy bedroom taking a moment on this hectic holiday to do a bit of reading.  I’m currently reading Scratch, an anthology of essays by and interviews with writers about money.  I’m pleased to say that I’m mostly enjoying it and it’s not nearly as depressing as I feared itContinue reading “On hard work and outcomes”

Exercise is really fraught.  We spend a lot of time performing “exercise”, movement that usually feels like a chore for the purpose of weight loss/maintenance .  It’s true that I know I will feel better after running on a treadmill, but while I’m doing it, it just feels like work.  Yoga is meditative, but it’sContinue reading “Oh, right, exercise should be fun!”

We’re all a little bit in love with Mr. Darcy, right?  Of course we are.  But when we think of Mr. Darcy, we think of this: Yeah? Or this: Right? Wrong, according to a new study that says the man Jane Austen was likely imagining was probably pale and pointy chinned with a small mouth andContinue reading “Well, that’s disappointing”

In case your not familiar with the two books sitting atop my manuscript above, Scratch is a book of essays by and interviews with writers of varying degrees of success and fame about money.  It’s… well, it’s frequently a little depressing.  That fantasy about making a nice, middle class living as a fiction writer isContinue reading “Well, sometimes getting the cart ready in advance isn’t the worst idea”

You know that thing when you’re a parent where you get really excited about going out shopping by yourself and then you get home and realize that you only bought things for the kids? Yeah, I pretty much just did the sewing version of that. But, hey, the dress for my daughter is cute andContinue reading “Dress done…It just doesn’t happen to be for me”

Good writing feels alive.  Bad writing feels dead.  This is a really good tip for bringing your writing back to life.   H/t Legit Writing Tips Tumblr

This weekend was rough for those of us who believe in the good of immigration.  It wasn’t even that the idea of a temporary ban on immigration was so awful–it was that a hastily created and vaguely worded executive order meant that lots of people who had been granted the legal right to visit orContinue reading “Writing your resistance”

In most ways, life is easier than it has ever been in history (assuming that you live in the developed world, of course).  Central heating is universal.  Life expectancy stretches well into the 70s.  Most of us are unlikely to ever contract the measles, chicken pox, or polio.  Cancer is no longer a guaranteed deathContinue reading “On relaxation and writing”