I like this a lot. I hope you like it a lot, too.

I just read my writer pal Kelli Stanley’s recent blog post on how to bring on her muse, which implies – nay! states! – she knows how to do this. She has tricks, techniques, tried-and-true methods. She has a whole freaking list. I have no list. I wish I had a list, a plan, a…

Have you seen The Kids Are All Right? No? You should. Go ahead. I’ll wait. No, really. I’ll be right here when you get back. Ba-de-dum da-da-dum la-la-de-de… Back? Great isn’t it? Okay, now we can chat because holy mother of Jesus, Annette Bening. Yowser.

What the Buddha Taught By Walpola Sri Rahula My knowledge of Buddhism owes too much to PBS specials and Richard Gere. It’s embarrassing. This is a basic primer used by a whole lot of universities, none of which I attended. Wish me luck and good karma.

You should see my foot. No, really. It is something, and by something, I mean iiiiicky but also sort of fascinating. And you know I just have to share that. It’s human instinct. The same thing that makes us go, “Oh, the milk has gone off. Here, smell it.” Spread the pain. That’s our motto.…

An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender The inner magical life of an obsessive-compulsive young math teacher, who loves the hardware store, occasionally eats soap and sees signs in the numbers around her. Fantastical and charming and quiet. A lovely little book.

Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson This is the first in the Crispin Guest series about a medieval fallen knight who becomes what is essentially a P.I. It’s full of historic London detail, which I find endlessly fascinating. The author is a friend, and the book is as lovely as she is. I’m only sorry…

I love comments. In my heart of hearts, I want to leave the comments door wide open, lay out the welcome mat, put some cookies on a plate for any passing reader to nibble. Alas, when I allow comments without the sign-in business, I get 100 spam messages AN HOUR, and nobody needs that kind…

Crutches are more difficult to use than you would think. I mean, sure, two sticks ought to be a basic principle, but tennis involves pretty basic principles, too. And I couldn’t get the ball over the net if my life depended on it. And tennis, I understand, involves a lot less throbbing and Vicodin than…

I’m supposed to be writing a column right now for a writer’s association newsletter. But am I? No, clearly not because I have absolutely no idea what to say. You’d think I could dig up some sort of scintillating advice, right? I am the president of the darn thing. But no. No advice today. Sorry.…