I have an article in the Smithsonian on how How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising. Excerpt: Beatrix Potter is known for her gentle children’s books and beautiful illustrations. But the sweet stories of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and others helped…
My short story Murmur is up on Every Day Fiction. It’s about a ghost. Excerpt: She came in with the rain, through an open window. It was the house of a young family. The ghost, whose name had been Amaya,…
I really enjoyed Hourglass by Dani Shapiro. Check out my review on KQED. Excerpt: My 15th wedding anniversary is in June. It seems impossible that my husband and I have been together for that long. The first 10 years of…
I wrote an article on seaweed foraging for NPR. Did you know most seaweed is edible? And that it’s a natural thickener? And a source of protein? And MSG? AND that seaweed isn’t even a plant, but algae? Interesting stuff,…
We have successfully remodeled our kitchen. This is something we’ve wanted to do for nine years, since moving into this house in 2007. Here’s what the kitchen used to look like: As you can see, the kitchen that came with…
Over at the Superstition Review, check out my essay On Sondheim and Whether Lyrics Are Poetry. I wrote about why I don’t think Bob Dylan should have won a Nobel Prize in Literature, using Sondheim–another great storyteller through lyrics and…
Here’s more from our trip to Yellowstone National Park. See Part 1 Here. Yellowstone is the Earth’s largest active geyser field. We’ve all heard of Old Faithful Geyser, but it is one of hundreds of geysers in Yellowstone. There are…
In October, Kyle, Gideon, and I went on an RV trip. We rented a Cruise America RV and drove over 3,000 miles through Nevada, Idaho, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Glacier National Park in Montana, Seattle, Vancouver BC, and Portland,…
I have an essay on Parent.co today! It’s about 3D printing, something I talk about a lot on here. In particular, it’s about 3D printing toys for our son Gideon. Right now, we’re printing him stocking stuffers for Christmas. Here’s…
Check out my review of Michael Chabon’s elegantly structured novel Moonglow on KQED.