For the past year and a half I have worked with Zen Hospice Project, an organization that trains volunteer caregivers with a background in meditation to serve at the bedside of those who are dying. One of the precepts we learn during our training to act from while at the... Continue reading

Addiction. Softening. Compassion for the alcoholic. Led Zeppelin. These are my life's realities, its awakenings, and the American rock legend that touched my summer. I'll start by saying that It's rare that I write about the specifics of my hospice work, mainly because I respect the HIPAA laws that keep... Continue reading

Go ahead. Have a miscarriage. Then bake me some muffins as fast as you can. Continue reading

Each year in October, my blessed role on the Litquake Executive Commitee arrives with the chilling winds. During our culminating event, the Lit Crawl, I curate a little reading series in the beautifully muraled Clarion Alley here in the Mission District of San Francisco. Muralists grace the walls expressing their... Continue reading

Each year in October, my blessed role on the Litquake Executive Commitee arrives with the chilling winds. During our culminating event, the Lit Crawl, I curate a little reading series in the beautifully muraled Clarion Alley here in the Mission District of San Francisco. Muralists grace the walls expressing their... Continue reading

Yesterday I finally started my writing group here in my beautiful home. It's been a long time coming. I was in a writing group back in '03-'05 and I have missed it something awful. There is something magical about a writing group, as if ideas flow through the group into... Continue reading

One of the gifts that has come out of my grief is the concept I've called collaborative grieving. I think of collaborative grieving as the opposite of isolation in our grief process. While the unspoken message in our society is that grief is something to process in private, outside of... Continue reading

Why I Live in San Francisco, a story through one of its happy residents. Continue reading

How in the hell do I survive my loved one's suicide? I'm often emailed and asked this question by friends, friends of friends, and just last week, from a woman in South America who lost her boyfriend and found my story in The Courage Companion: How to Live Life With... Continue reading

When I'm stuck in my writing, I usually fall onto other art forms for inspiration. This time it was with my beloved City by the Bay, my camera, myself, and my hiking shoes. To view the photos in large format, click on the first photo below. Angel Island - A... Continue reading

One of the things you try to do as a writer while pounding away solo at the keyboard for days (or waking up grateful for jet lag that book themes, stories, and ideas are racing through your head), is get yourself some press. I'm lucky to have lived in San... Continue reading

One of the things you try to do as a writer while pounding away solo at the keyboard for days (or waking up grateful for jet lag that book themes, stories, and ideas are racing through your head), is get yourself some press. I'm lucky to have lived in San... Continue reading

Irina Zadov, (right) co-host of Feast of Words, offers latkes to Jessica Langlois during Feast of Words at SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle I tried my hand at fiction a few Tuesday nights back by acting out of character. First, I made a... Continue reading

In memoriam for our friend, LSD, listen here to Through The Dark, by KT Tunstall (photo from left to right, K, LSD, & me, circa 1980-something) I received an email late Wednesday night from my mother. She didn't add to her own note, just "Sad News" in the subject line... Continue reading

Earlier this year, fellow Litquake committee member, author and friend, Nina Lesowitz, called me one morning. As our fundraiser extraordinaire, I thought she was calling me for that donation back to Litquake since I shared with her weeks before about the surprise inheritance I had just received two years after... Continue reading

When courage trumps grief. Continue reading