Reading, Writing, and the Rest of Life
- Home
- My Work
- Stuff Other People Wrote
- The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters
- The Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor
- Elijah of Buxton
- Love That Dog
- The Epicure’s Lament, by Kate Christensen
- Summer Sisters and Sarah Conley
- Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons
- Where Men Win Glory, by Jon Krakauer
- Trigger, by Susan Vaught
- The Sledding Hill, by Chris Crutcher
- The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks, by E. Lockhart
- Taken, by Norah McClintock
- American Taboo, by Philip Weiss
- Carnet de Voyage, by Craig Thompson
- Moonlight Mile, by Dennis Lehane
- Arm Candy, by Jill Kargman
- Palaces and Calluses, by Rebecca Woodhead
- Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron
- About Me, and This Site
- Philanthropy
- My first indication that I'm not where I thought I was: a campaign sign on Whidbey Island
- Between 11:10 and 12:30 I took my books down to the rocky beach and did homework. If I turned to face away from the ocean, this was my view.
- And now, some up-close things I spotted on the beach. First, this cool infinity-shaped whorl on some driftwood.
- The beach is mostly rocky. Almost every clustering of rocks is a mini still-life.
- Sometimes I was reminded that there is life outside of reading, writing, new friends, and the rocky beach. This piece of driftwood was one such reminder.
- Sometimes I spotted other writing students on the beach. Here, Nancy and Steve, on a rock-hunting expedition.
- from the building that serves as our classrooms, you can see lots of ships going by. these huge cruise ships were a shock, though.
- Fort Casey was built in 1897. Obviously, some of the buildings have disappeared. Ripe for ghost stories!
- After my morning run, I met my roommate Cyn on our porch for coffee each morning. This is the view from our porch.
- At 7:25 or so Stefon would walk by on his way to breakfast. (Cyn and I opted out.)
- Sometimes Robert stopped by for coffee and a chat.
- Here's what it felt like.
- Some days it was too cold. Then we decamped to living room and pot-bellied stove fire.
- We were fed quite well at Whidbey. Dessert every night if we wanted it. I am a sucker for bread pudding. Stefon thinks this is funny.
- One evening we decided it would be a good idea to jump into Puget Sound. It must have been about 54 degrees in there. Not bad.
- One day, Merone, Cyn and I went into town for lunch. I was enjoying mussels when I looked up and spotted this. I think my first coherent thought was "Oh, gross. Moose drool."
- We took the ferry to get off of Whidbey and onto the mainland for the drive home. From left to right, Nancy, Stefon, Jackie, and Mandy. Until January, friends!
Yeah, Crazy Pants! All writers should have as much fun as us.