Author Archives: Susanna J. Sturgis
Clueless in Candidateland
Classic story beginning: “Remember the night we all got drunk and . . .” Followed by the often hilarious recounting of adventures that made perfect sense at the time but in retrospect look totally off-the-wall. Way back last spring I … Continue reading
The Key Sestina
This poem came back to me while I was writing yesterday’s blog. When I lived in D.C., my keys wore holes in the hip pocket of my jeans. On Martha’s Vineyard I carried no keys at all. This might have … Continue reading
Insularity
When I moved from Washington, D.C., to Martha’s Vineyard in 1985 — just for a year, mind you — I expected some culture shock. D.C. is a big city. In the mid-1980s, more than three-quarters of the population was black. … Continue reading
In the Midst of Life
My blog posts usually start with a kernel, a seed, something nagging at the back of my mind. Words coalesce around the irritant, and though pearls rarely result, insight often does. At least the irritant becomes less irritating. Since the … Continue reading
Primary
I’m sorry to report that Sam Sutter lost his Democratic primary race to represent the new Massachusetts 9th District in Congress. The upside is that Bristol County gets to keep its hardworking and effective district attorney. I blogged last month … Continue reading
A Miracle
This guest blog is by Shirley W. Mayhew of West Tisbury. Shirley is, among other things, a wonderful writer and photographer whose work has appeared in Martha’s Vineyard Magazine and other publications. She brought “A Miracle” to Cynthia Riggs’s Sunday … Continue reading
August License Plate Report
Nothing to report. No new plates, no new states. The map is no more green than it was at the end of July. It’s no less green either, true. This is good, but it’s also not surprising. Once a plate’s … Continue reading
Viva the Ape Woman
May Oskan’s rock opera The Ape Woman had its world premiere at the Pit Stop last night and all I can say is WOW. GO SEE IT. No, I lied. That’s not all I can say. There’s only one more … Continue reading
Laureation
I hoped I’d made that word up, but no such luck: poets can be laureated, making them poets laureate, and the act of doing so is laureation. The dictionary says so. Laureation, specifically the laureation of poets, is enjoying a … Continue reading
Sourdough
Earlier this summer my sourdough starter croaked. Again. The last time it happened, in the late winter of 2009, was traumatic. I’d brought that starter with me from Washington, D.C., in 1985; it was pretty much my last tangible link … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 