pure joy

drumroll, please

Today is Hug a Drummer Day, the perfect occasion for me to salute my own once-drummer, B. – and to rerun this post from a couple of years ago about how I married an “almost” rock star. (Okay, he was just a little kid with big dreams, but you gotta love the heart.) Two, three, […]

a tip of the cap

The other evening I had the honor of attending a college graduation even though no one I know was graduating. Explanation? Last Friday night was commencement at the community college where B. has taught for two decades and he invited me along. I hadn’t been to a college graduation since my own in 1980, and […]

prom-ises, promises

Ah, that rite of passage, the high school prom. Back in the 1970s, when I was a senior in high school, the prom (still known as “the” prom back then) was a very big deal, and not having been asked was an equally big deal, at least in my mind. Seventeen magazine filled its pages […]

so i married a rock star …

… whose career went no further than the middle of seventh grade. But still. B. was little as a kid, born in December when all of his classmates and buddies were born earlier in the year and, as a result, went through their growth spurts sooner. As such, his two goals before reaching his bar […]

snow place else

While LA is certainly home sweet home to this self-professed California girl, this time of year brings a certain fondness for my early years in New York City. There really is no place else like it during the holidays – at least in my growing-up memories. Back then, New York City in December had a […]

playing by heart

The red piano. No, not Elton’s, mine. And not really a piano but an electronic keyboard. But yes, it’s red – bold, bright, and undeniably present – sort of like me on my good days. And it’s found a place in our home and into my heart. (Also into B.’s ear, but he’s been really […]

touching base

How do you know it’s autumn in LA? The Dodgers are in the playoffs. You certainly wouldn’t know that the season has changed by the weather – until one day you actually do. While much of the rest of the country has cooled down, summer temperatures extend here into October. There may be a day […]

give my regards

One of the wonderful things for me about growing up in New York was the chance to see Broadway musicals. Not everyone’s cup of tea, I know (the idea of characters just spontaneously bursting into song is enough to send some running for the aisles). Some musicals struck me as so wonderful that I’d want […]

listen to the music

Right off the bat, extra points if the title says Doobie Brothers to you and you’ve, well, listened to their music. Way to go. That business taken care of, and speaking of music, one thing I have truly missed over this past almost-year (aside from, first and foremost, of course, the human connection), is the […]

puppy love

I grew up scared of dogs. No, there was no traumatic event. No run-ins, no dog bites, no being chased while walking home from school. Just an imagination overactive enough to make me believe that every puppy that crossed my path was really Cujo in disguise. Not helping things out was our next door neighbor’s […]