Blog
What’s In the Traveler’s Handbag?
You would not believe what I find in my handbag. Somehow, the damn thing just gets out of control.
The best of the best: 30 breathtaking books to read in 2013
“Trying to rate books out of 5 is like trying to carve a statue with a sledgehammer. I am cavalier with my ratings and they should probably not be trusted.”
When did we lose our innocence?
Last Friday night, I lingered a bit longer over bedtime tuckings. We read together, gave kisses, and when Lila asked me to stay longer so we could chat, I didn’t hesitate. It’s been barely a week since the shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary, yet it feels like so much longer.
Interview with David George Clarke: Writer, forensic scientist & world traveler
I started my day researching places to sell photography online. Next thing I know, I’m chatting about art, photography and how to build a business online. Yes, have been derailed from work for the day, but the connections I made are more than worth it.
Tread Softly On My Dreams: The Education Crisis Revolution
I’m currently reading a book by Maya Frost titled The New Global Student: Skip the SAT, Save Thousands on Tuition and Get a Truly International Education. In it, she describes the nature of the adolescent mind, how in our teen years our brains open to growth potential that is left largely ignored by the current education system in the United States.
Homecoming Is As A Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle
We spent six months living in Panama, most of that time on a tiny island off the Caribbean coast where only a footpath leads from one side to the other, and everyone knows each other by first name. There are no big name stores, no buying in bulk and never a crowd. Then we went back to the United States.
Mr. Mackie’s Classroom: Why South Park Characters Shouldn’t Teach In NYC
In 2010, a school in California banned the dictionary after a student looked up the term oral sex. Funny, right? It would be if this was The Onion, but it's an all too enlightening example of exactly why I found teaching so frustrating. I was running poetry workshops...
The New Brighton: A Quiet Cafe On Sarmiento
I would have ignored Sarmiento 645, The New Brighton Restaurant, if I had just been out for a walk. Something about its large ornate doors and old fashioned wooden interior conjured images of an overpriced and painfully tourist trap, meaning soggy milanesa rounding...
A Portrait of Lila On the Eve Of Her Fifth Birthday
This is my Lila just before she turned five years old. It’s a time capsule, something I’ll return to read year after year. Each time, I’ll tell myself, “Wow, I can’t believe how much has changed.” Or “see how pieces of her personality persist no matter what.”
It’s easy to forget what happened and change the images we once had. In part, I write to remember.
You Don’t Have To Leave The House To See the World
I sit here today on the cusp of signing a one-year-lease on a little house in Salta. Can you imagine? One whole year living in one place? It seems almost unimaginable after more than two years of constant travel. But wait! Does this mean I can no longer call myself a...