Thank you to all you kind and lovely souls who have sent little and huge pieces of mail over the past month or two. I went to my p.o. box this morning and walked away with an armful of beautiful thick envelopes and packages. I felt like the most popular girl at the post office. […]

On Friday night, Rama and I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the LA County Museum of Art. As part of a month-long series, the museum held the screening outside on the lawn. The weather has been gorgeous, especially in the evenings, and I’ve always loved that movie, so I knew I just […]

I am still surprised at how easily I move from belly-aching laughter to heart-stinging tears. Good luck to my dear Sidra as she begins a new adventure in San Francisco. I won’t miss you, because I will be visiting often — and soon.

11 of 98 flavors of gelato (I think I tasted 6) at my new favorite spot, Angelato Caf&#233, Santa Monica

I first spotted the culprit with another boy the same age. They were drinking frothy drinks in Starbucks cups at the Barnes & Noble caf&#233. One lifted the lid and licked it clean, while the other looked on with delight. All of a sudden, I was craving a tower of whipped cream. Later, the father […]

I played treasure hunt in my old bedroom yesterday and I found so much good stuff: Classroom-passed notes and letters from crushes, Madonna cassettes and embarrassingly bad mixed tapes, clippings of magazine-published poetry and a folder of dot-matrix printouts. I could have easily spent hours digging through the treasures, remembering tidbits of my childhood, alternately […]

I don’t want to talk about where I’ve been or why I’ve been so quiet, but here is what I can tell you: The weather has been gorgeous. Usually at this time of year, it’s too hot to handle. Instead, we’ve been blessed with 80-degree days and 60-degree nights and a cool breeze throughout both. […]