This Xmas I am not returning to Connecticut to be with my extended family. Instead, Belle and I are hanging VERY low in SF, enjoying the quiet and celebrating in our own way. The only person –– besides my Secret Santa –– that I have gifted is my faux–nemesis at the UPS store (a copy of UPWARD DOG), appropr...

First, a true triumph:  yesterday and today, feeding Val and Clark’s cat Tula was easy and delightful.  The keys they gave me worked perfectly.  The food was exactly where it was supposed to be. And Tula –– whom I have known exclusively while cowering away from Belle at dinner parties –– was unbeliev...

Stayed up until 2 am clearing away Inner Child years up to elementary school –– now the real work begins –– but all my New-Found Serenity was called into question again at the UPS store. My challenge there has been since the very first phone call with a guy I’ll just call Z. At first I honestly thoug...

√  Beachwalk with Susan & Belle –– spectacular weather √  Drive Susan (and Val) to airport √  Platinum Parking (thanks to new parking permit) √  Moves files and projects upstairs from cottage so I can re-stack & re-organize √  Nap √  Watch remainder of Season 3 of BORED TO DEATH (1/2 complete) √  H...

              I have listened to four hours of Platinum Marketing today –– only another two hours to go and I am complete –– and I’m sorta totally into it and at the same time playing iphone scrabble constantly and tidying up small stacks of books and papers, and fe...

This morning our experience at the Municipal Parking Authority can truly only be described as a TRIUMPH. This is largely because Belle and I were braced for hours in line of waiting.  It  turned out to be 10 minutes, with a brief intermission since because of zoning subtleties we had to regroup and return ...

Last night I watched Nicholas Cage in SEASON OF THE WITCH which has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 10% Fresh (ie, 90% of the critics hated it) but honestly it sustained my interest (while playing scrabble on my iphone) far more than MELANCHOLIA, the latest from Lars Von Trier which I couldn’t even get t...

This week I got an email from a self-help guru whose mailing list I’m on with this subject line:  “Your Miracle Expires At Midnight!” This phrase seemed so ridiculously aggressive that I off-handedly emailed them back and said, “Please stop threatening me!” I certainly didn...

Nothing is more daunting than Secret Santa, especially if you don’t know your drawn-from-a-hat giftee at all. We’re doing that tonight at the Laughing Lotus Holiday Party, but I am thrilled to report that I not only have a rather sensational gift to give, I also experienced a personal triumph I...