New kid, old block
William Copley, "Imaginary Flag for USA," 1972, as photographed by me at Addison Gallery of American Art, 1/9/25. SCENE: A few days ago. Low on sleep, feeling raw because I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t stop fretting about the safety of my loved ones, the ...
Whenever, wherever
"Can I ask you... if they come for me... where do you think they'll take me?" This f*cking heartbreaking question. Today, from my wonderful beloved young trans friend, whose eyes are suddenly about to spill tears in the middle of a discussion that was about politics. But the political is ...
Never say goodbye
This is not the post I was going to write today. It's been a rough week, hasn't it? Waking up every day to a renewed deluge of cruelties. Knowing this is only the beginning. This morning, it all hit me hard. Suddenly I was nearly crying on my coffeewalk. My ...
To Whom It May Concern
MEMORANDUM TO: White people and everyone with relatively greater privilegeFROM: Your fellow privileged white personRE: Efforts to outlaw DEIDATE: Today and every day——————————————Just a reminder: We look at the world around us to assess *how* to continue advancing justice. We do not assess *whether* to continue advancing justice. Yes, we ...
Hopscotch
Today. MLK Day. Inauguration day, which I won’t capitalize. Sometimes, as I coffeewalk through the cemetery part of my loop, I think about the aphorism “The days are long, but the years are short.” People say it about parenting, but I think it’s true in a broader sense too. I’m ...
Why can’t you see
I saw Elvis a couple of weeks ago. It did not go well. Everything started off fine. M and I had gotten tickets to take my mom and stepdad to a tribute band at a winery in nearby New Hampshire. Just a fun little holiday outing, especially for my mother ...
Who’s at risk when we play it safe?
Right after the election, I got to speak on The Redress Movement's panel about Building Racial Redress Into Housing Justice. They invited me on behalf of my client organization's homeownership initiative that provides down-payment assistance specifically for first-time buyers who identify as Black and/or Latino... which begs the question, why ...
Not holding out for a hero
"We're spending so much energy talking about how bad things are, it can start to feel like THAT's our activism. Instead of just talking with our friends and family about what's bad, let's talk about what we can DO about this election." That's what the awesome friend-of-a-friend seasoned organizer said ...
Guess who’s coming to dinner?
Hi, white friends! Can I invite myself to your dinner table for a minute? You know, the one where you're having the same conversation that my family's been having since the debate last Thursday, at our little dinner table in the tiny cottage here on the Beach of My Heart ...
Captain’s log
This morning, back on Beach of My Heart. I smiled at the memory of the driftwood log. Then blinked, and laughed out loud because I realized it was real. Time doubles back on itself in odd and beautiful patterns here. Always so much the same. New joys adding bright threads ...
Get lost, kid
Yesterday I got myself well and truly lost in an area with no cell service. It’s okay. That was more or less the point. I started the morning by exploring around Lake Placid, scouting locations to view the next day’s eclipse. Then I went a little further afield, checking out ...
Small change: redux
Oh my friends, my heart is so full. It’s been a year since this post, about pushing my investment advisors to “humor me” by centering my portfolio on my values rather than pure profit. I had my first annual investment performance check-in today, and I learned two crucial things: The ...
