Writing this book constantly gives me moments to relive and every time that a memory hits me particularly hard, it surprises me. Today I wrote about saying goodbye to a fellow volunteer and more so about having to watch as my daughter suffered the pain of having to say goodbye forever to someone she’d truly […]
I don’t know what reminded me of them, but for some reason the band This Mortal Coil came to mind today and I couldn’t shake it. I missed their album Filigree and Shadow so much I actually bought it. Then I sat there for the next hour, bathing in it, drowning at times, and wondering
pacifying the soul Read More »
A poignant film by Michael Rubbo: “A film about the people of Saigon told through the experiences of three young American journalists who, in 1970, explored the consequences of war and of the American presence in Vietnam. It is not a film about the Vietnam War, but about the people who lived on the fringe
Sad Song of Yellow Skin Read More »
Changes this time are only to the blog as I transition things over a bit at a time until this blog features some of the better posts (but not all of them). I want this site to be both informational and inspirational. As I write my book about our travels, and re-read blog posts and
ch-ch-changes again Read More »
I have a reading this evening at Marylhurst University, and I’ve managed to whittle what had been a chapter down to two pages to read aloud: Not one of the two dozen children who live at the baby orphanage come out to greet us when Jo and I ride in, ringing our bike bells in
Tam Biet, Em Be (an excerpt) Read More »
As summer quickly approaches, we’re putting together plans for this year’s adventure. Last year it was Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. This year it will be the western states. I’m still nailing down an itinerary and places to sleep, I have the route pretty well decided on. Have any recommendations on where to go and what
something to look forward to Read More »
I’ve got six weeks to finish my book if I want to have the draft finished by the time of the writers’ conference. Six weeks. It’s taken me two years to get half done and now I need to get it done. We’ll see what I can accomplish when push comes to shove. Again.
I am from small town manners and big city dreams. I am from tater tot casseroles and bun thit nuong. I am from love and distrust. I am from an attic bedroom and a basement home. I am from one cup of milk a day and never eating bread again. I am from the smell
Early memories are difficult for me. Not because they were too painful to remember or too ugly to forget, but simply because I have a terrible memory. In Writing Life Stories, Roorbach gives the writing exercise of drawing a map of your earliest remembered neighborhood. Mine would be from when we lived on River Street
Writing exercise: Memories Read More »
