On things I never used to know
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Travels with Jessica
Jessica is in many ways an amazing child, but her brain does not have an executive function, or if it does, it’s like one of my former bosses, out on a three-martini lunch most days. She cannot intuit or deduct but she can memorize and extrapolate. Which means that I have to do all the…
On the appointed one
Jessica and I are snowed in, watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix, sitting on the lime-green sofa and laying bets on whether there really will be six more weeks of winter, when she says, “Remind me who the acquainted one is.” “The who?” I ask. She points to the laptop and Buffy, and I…
On what life teaches us
A friend of mine has been diagnosed with one of those diseases that could kill him in a month or it might hold off for a while. Understandably he has been thrown by this, the uncertainty as much as the diagnosis. How do you live when you know the end is coming, but you don’t…
On using a knife and fork
Jessica’s last day of school is really just a last morning of school, so when I pick her up, the whole day stretches ahead of us. “How about lunch in Lawrence?” I say. “Yes.” She is without hesitation. Jessica is a girl who likes lunch. “Where?” “Let’s go to Encore,” I say. “They have those…
On reading Tolkien
Jessica and I are reading the Lord of the Rings series. A couple of months ago, looking for something to do on a weekend, I asked if she would like to watch the movies. “I do not know,” she said. “Okay,” I said. “How about we watch the first one and if you don’t like…
On telling stories
You know, I try to give y’all helpful advice for living your creative life. I carefully craft action steps, things to do to help you in your creative work. And? And I get these gentle notes: “Well, it’s fine. Really. Really. It’s just . . . they’re not Jessica stories.” Do you realize how much…