Despite the timing and the title, I want to state upfront that this post has nothing to do with the recent election. This post is entirely personal, not political. I have had a hard time mourning my father’s death. In recent years we had grown distant, as distant emotionally as we were physically; an ocean stood between us, and...
Miscellany
The Blog that Made Me Want to Blog - A Cup of Jo
There's this blog that I've been reading for a couple years now. It's called A Cup of Jo and I've linked to it a few times from Dear Sabrina, including a couple days ago. While I don't love all the posts (I'm not particularly interested in beauty and fashion stuff, as you may have guessed already), I like...
Moving Forward
I'm finding it incredibly difficult to sit down and work on a normal blog post today. (It wasn't even a possibility yesterday.) I feel like I have to address the elephant in the room (no pun intended). I am crushed and demoralized. I am looking for hope, and love, and community. I am inspired by several of my fellow...
In Praise of Social Media
It's so popular today to bash social media for what seems like all the ills of society, especially for creating distance between people by adding an electronic intermediary where there once may have been personal contact. Of course there is some truth in this, though I've always felt that the good or ills of social media (and electronic devices)...
Sailor Moon and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Today I'm thrilled to share this story by my dear friend Laura. I met Laura in the first months I moved to Los Angeles, and she's been a treasured friend since the day I met her. Laura is the ultimate go-to for how to do anything involving sewing, crafting, drawing, or starting creative projects, and has the best historical...
A Couple Swedish Singers to Love
While plenty of American music is played on the radio here in Sweden, there aren't enough Swedish songs on the radio in America (though Jose Gonzalez is half Swedish). Of course we all know ABBA, but there's a lot of great music being made in Sweden right now that you probably don't know about. Here are two Swedish singers I'm...
Sharing sad news
My dear readers, With a heavy heart, I share the news that my father passed away yesterday. It is hard to be so far away from family in this time, and we hope to be traveling to Michigan soon to share in the love, comfort, and laughter of dear friends and family. Several of my witty,...
Rainy Day Reads
Today is the first rainy day we've had in weeks, and I'm loving it. I don't feel any pressure to go out for a walk or admire the view: I feel perfectly okay sitting inside, reading and sipping tea (there's probably a nap happening this afternoon, too). While I'm terrified of the long winter to come, today...
On Having Imperfect Pictures of Myself on the Blog
One of the most common critiques of the social media world--a world most of us find ourselves entrenched in--is that it presents us with edited and often idealized images of other people's lives. We see more of others' aspirational lives than we do of their real, everyday lives. While we might lament this, we often tend...