|
|
|
|
…make Jack Nicholson chase after his family with an axe through a topiary garden. Right? Santiago isn’t exactly in the running for the setting of “The Shining II”, but I was definitely beginning to feel twitchy and cooped up. No wonder, with this as my most frequent work space: Working through my pile of […] Today, without meaning to, I walked straight into the heart of the Chilean Patagonia. I found it at a bar, El Clinic, near the Belles Artes metro stop. It doesn’t live there, obviously, but that’s where we happened to meet. I’ve spent the past week in Santiago poring through various media, trying to assimilate the […] Gray skies gradually succumbed to the spirit of honor, gaiety, and remembrance at the 2011 American Indian Association of Florida, Inc. Powwow. By early afternoon the sun had emerged to cast its gentle, fall warmth on the gathering. I can’t duplicate the melody of bells jangling, feathers swooping, streamers flying, drums reverberating, and singers chanting […] 5:30 pm. I stood on the platform of the Santiago metro. No, not stood, sagged. Eyelids blinked in slow motion. Shoulders protested the weight of my bag. I was exhausted. The day’s interviews (two: one with a representative from Ecosistemas, and the second with a spokesman for Costa Carrera) and the wealth of information they’d […] I landed in Santiago on Friday morning, jet-lagged, sticky, bleary-eyed, and with a stomach dancing about in what Syreena assures me is excitement, not fear. I broke down the things I needed to do into tiny steps. First, immigration and customs. I did NOT have to pay the silly $100 reciprocity fee (only because I […] I had to run to catch my flight today. The relative proximity of SLC International to my home in Cottonwood Heights made me a bit more complacent than I should have been. The good news is I made it. The bad is that now I’m sweaty. It was a spectacular day to lift off. The […] Last week I loaded up Chewy (my little honda), checked the oil, and set off for the hills. I’d planned on a six day backpacking trip in the mountains. I finally had a bunch of days off in a row. Yippee!! I pulled out onto the interstate, accelerated, and WHAM!! My hood flew up and […] I’m a published writer!! I’ve been struggling with the task of promoting and pitching my own work for quite some time, with a few miniscule forward movements. Several months ago, in a burst of confidence, I rewrote and submitted a story about sheep falling off the roof of a bus in rural Ecuador. No response. […] It was a hot day in the desert today, made even hotter by my double-fronted Carhartts and long-sleeved, woolly lumberjack shirt. I was sweltering. This, however, was very necessary. My tan colored pants were covered in a quivering blanket of whining wings. Mosquitoes. Dozens. Hundreds of them, the bitches, trying to drink through reinforced cotton. […] The most social place in any house is the kitchen. In this, at least, my Peruvian homestay was like any other home in the world. Life happened while meals were being cooked. It was the specific details of that life that constantly reminded me that I was living in a different culture. I loved living […] |
|