Irish Poetry and its Super Hero: Seamus Heaney
For a time, I lived in Dublin. A time that feels far, far away now; since the pandemic has made time an accordion—shorter, longer, short, short, long. Mostly I spent that year in the rarefied Trinity College library researching all day just two flights above the enshrined Book of Kells. Dating back to 600 A.D. the illuminated manuscript inked on velum by...
10 Offbeat Love Quotes from Famous Authors
In a traditional Catholic grade school like mine, even love had its rules. Valentine’s Day was no exception. Ahem, that’s St. Valentine’s Day, which honors an ancient Roman martyr Valentinus, executed on Feb. 14. In third grade, I had a slightly offbeat nun who seemed to revel in the idea of having a party to celebrate the martyr. What a boon! When...
The Surprising Lesson I Learned from Having COVID
It will surprise no one that COVID kills. What’s not so obvious is the broad reach of its devastation. For me, it was about killing my belief in myself. I was poised to complete a final round of interviews for my research that would be the basis for the last chapter of my next book. I’m nearly there, I kept telling myself....
10 Life Lessons from My Research
Over the past few years, my research has taught me many things. What comes to mind are the people I encountered who had a keen sense of identity that made them resilient after defeat and steady at the crossroads. They taught me so much about life. In reflecting on 2020, it seemed like a good idea to share some of the lessons...
Reading: In My Kitchen-Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman
Alison Roman kept me cooking through COVID. I love that her savory food and sassy style are all served from her bare-bones Brooklyn kitchen. She’s built a following of Millennials hungry for doable ways to host dinners, and foodies like me who are fed up with prim perfectionism of oh, say, Martha Stewart. I’m telling you, Roman is the future of cooking....