The Judge

“Well hi Val,” was the typical greeting from Sam as he would wander up the stairs from watching baseball to find me sitting with his daughter. “Hi Sam.  How are you?”  “Just fine, Val,” was also the typical response.  He never complained about his health. 84-year-old-tie-dye-shirt-wearing judges are probably pretty rare, but for me, this [...]

On Being A Minnesotan

I like Minnesota.  St. Paul reminds me of Portland with its river front park, winding tree-lined streets, old homes and quirky neighborhoods bustling with restaurants, shops and art galleries.  And bookstores.  Lots of bookstores.  The vibe is there.  Last night the Twin Cities hosted Northern Spark the first all-night art festival in the United States. Cousin [...]

First Female Post Mistress Family Myth Debunked

Well, I got caught up in the excitement of family legend and made the rookie mistake of believing something my relative told me.  DOH!  Yesterday I spent the whole day at a seminar hosted by the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society.  The first session:  Debunking family myths.   Last post I shared that my great-aunt, daughter [...]

Not being home for the holidays.

I love Christmas.  Or so I think.  But when I come to Los Angeles to see my family and friends, it no longer feels like the holiday I love.  There’s no big dinner with mom’s best china, silver and Fostoria (Buttercup pattern, if you please).   No turkey smell creeping up the stairs before we [...]

Get this thing out of me.

I think I have two brains.   The dominant one is rational, organized, thoughtful and funny (ROTF).   I think it goes on holiday at inappropriate times.  Or maybe it’s just that the ‘WTF’ brain clobbers it sometimes and takes over.  I know it goes to sleep earlier than I do which is a problem [...]