Valerie Harms

Jane, an old friend, and I used to do readings from women's diaries. Her vast collection is now at the USG and here she is among the shelves. It's been wonderful to share the same interest and friendship. We also led a trip to England based on women diarists. The New York Times promoted it; it was a great success.  Read More 

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This is a kick and shows why Chabon is so skilled a writer...

I hate dreams. Dreams are the Sea Monkeys of consciousness: in the back pages of sleep they promise us teeming submarine palaces but leave us, on waking, with a hermetic residue of freeze-dried dust. The wisdom of dreams is a fortune on paper that you can’t cashout, an oasis of shimmering water that turns, when you wake up, to a mouthful of sand. I hate them for their absurdities and deferrals, their endlessly broken promise to amount to something, by and by. I hate them for the way they ransack memory, jumbling treasure and trash. I hate them for their tedium, how they drag on, peter out, wander off.

Pretty much the only thing I hate more than my own dreams are yours. “I was flying over Lake Michigan in a pink Cessna,” you begin, “only it wasn’t really Lake Michigan…,” and I sink, cobwebbed, beneath a drifting dust of boredom.  Read More 

Jeanette Winterson's Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal is the best book I've read recently. Her writing is visceral, highly accomplished in subtle ways. In this memoir she covers topics such as home, books, church, time, adoption, breakup & breakdown, myths, and the importance of feelings. It's so dynamic. Not only is the book great, but you could spend a lot of valuable time on her Web site, jeanettewinterson.com.
All I can say is that she is a gift to us. Read More 

As late spring and summer approach, you might want to get started supporting your local farms. Each week you get to take home a box of fresh veggies, fruits, and other goodies. For more info and access to all kinds of CSAs around the country, see www.localharvest.org.

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A new book looks good to me: Imagine by Jonah Lehrer.

"Your expertise and wisdom was so impressive and helpful. I also loved your style of communication and teaching and found it valuable to write a letter and receive input."

'You and Rob presented a wonderful, educational workshop.'

If you have been dreaming about a project or have one in developement, this should meet your needs.

Do any of you have adult children who break your heart just as much as they did when they were growing up with you? I sure understand that once they are married and have their own families, their ties to their past can seem practically invisible. But I sure hate being neglected and sidelined. Every friend I have who has grown children faces such sad moments too. It is rarely written about or acknowledged.  Read More