Month: June 2018

For the past week I’ve been trying to write an op-ed and I’ve been mostly paralyzed by a crisis of confidence. There are three publications I admire most and I have the opportunity to write an op-ed for one of them, which is great. It doesn’t mean that what I write will be accepted, but I have the chance! Except I keep starting and then I stop, after finding something more urgent that must be done. Like making a new litter box for my cats, which is what I did on Thursday, the last day I had a chunk of time to write.

Then this morning, another op-ed I wrote about bringing back asylums came out. I re-read it immediately. When I got to the end my first thought was, “I can’t believe I wrote that!”

Maybe I can do that again. I’ve got a free day to write.

Santa Cruz Noir is a new book of short stories edited by Susie Bright! “Bright joins the ranks of Akashic editors to rip the lid off the California coastal town that’s never seemed less laid-back.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“A few [stories] spotlight surfing, a few more feature psycho killers on the loose, and others offer magical overtones.” —Publishers Weekly

From Susie’s blog: “It’s 20 addictive short stories on the dark side … with no moral compass whatsoever.” It’s her first new book in five year—congratulations Susie!!

The ASPCA is starting a big push to find fosters for kittens this season. They’re calling it Meow for Now. Having kittens in the house is the best mood-enhancer. If you follow Paris Zarcilla’s tweets you’ll see exactly what I mean. A cat made its way into his apartment and had kittens, and his delight in finding himself a “father” is just irresistible. An example. You can scroll up to see more. Everything is better when kittens are in the house.

If you follow Hannah Shaw, aka the Kitten Lady, she’s going to talk live about it on Instagram at 2:30 EST today.

This is either Bodhi or Bali, kittens I fostered-to-adopt. The ASPCA calls it that when you’re fostering kittens under 8 weeks old, but you plan to adopt them. You can’t adopt a kitten until it’s old enough, but you can foster kittens at any age. That’s called foster-to-adopt. For me the younger the better, I love bottle feeding kittens.

This is looking down on Bryant Park and the back of the New York Public Library. Cutter Wood and I read in the park last Wednesday afternoon. You can see my reflection in the window.

This is looking out on the audience at the Mid-Manhattan branch of the New York Public Library where I had an author talk with Ginia Bellafante that night.

I’m not sure what this was about, but I passed these performers by after having brunch with friends on my birthday. I love the top hat. It reminds me of the top hat the Joanie Stubbs character in Deadwood wore. I love the look of a woman in an embellished top hat.