Waiting to Get There. Usually on the A/C/E in Chelsea, New York City.

With thought and care, I had set aside a bunch of things for Ella, who is 14. One really awesome pair of black kind of combat boots but with heels and these strappy straps. Anything but basic, these boots. She took them, but it felt just a little bit like she was doing me a favor. I also offered her a cute kind of trendy velvet blazer. She said she didn't want it. I was like, what if you need to look business-like for something?  It was a commence eyeball roll here situation. Apparently 14 year-olds do not envision themselves in business-like scenarios. Then again, I have a vague recollection of graduating from college and thinking that a leather blazer-ish jacket would be an excellent choice for the workplace. Turned down the corner of that page in the catalog I can tell you.  Bottomline, I made Ella take the velvet blazer. One of these days she'll appreciate it. I think there were a few other things, including a pair of designer shoes that were slightly beat up but she proba...

I had a little trepidation when Michelle suggested we do the Panorama Hike around Joshua Tree National Park. It's long, this hike, almost 7 miles. In the desert. Some of my hesitation might have had to do with the last time we went hiking in the desert. It was when the 'rents were volunteer park rangers at a National Park in New Mexico. My most vivid memory is pulling up in front of a concrete bunker surrounded by miles of sand. Tom, my brother and Mary had driven all night in a PT Cruiser from Vegas.  It was like a scene out of Grapes of Wrath or something. Pop comes flying out the door of the bunker and shows us to what was supposed to be our accommodations for our stay. It's another bunker nearby. He proudly points to the gym mats lying on the floor and says that he wiped them all down with bleach due to the hantavirus outbreak in the area. Lots of opportunities for a full black death experience in the area Anyway, we decided to crash on the floor of their bunker inste...

I have been peer-pressured into reading A Winter's Tale .  One of my work friends strongly suggested that I might like this book. Furthermore, there are like a million reviewers on Amazon chortling about how this book changed their lives. This is high praise even if some of the reviews are straight out of an "How to get someone to ok-Boomer you" playbook.  Ok, Boomer. So people love this book, but big downside!! A Winter's Tale is a long-ass book! And if the lengthy nature of this beast wasn't enough of a reason to abort, my bookclub selected the Dressmakers of Auschwitz to read this month. Which is also a long-ass book.  So you might be able to see why, with great trepidation, I tiptoed into the Kindle Store to download the sample. It was like an out of body experience when I did this. The whole time I couldn't believe what my fingers where clicking on. Why am I doing this?!? I asked myself. I'm already reading four books and some of them on a deadline. B...