Category Archives: musing
Statues
I’m more than half Southern on my mother’s side, but I grew up (and have lived most of my life) in Massachusetts, so until pretty recently I was able to think of Confederate statues as mostly a matter of heritage … Continue reading
Gossip
Gossip is widely assumed to be, by definition, frivolous, erroneous, and/or malicious. Call it “orally transmitted information” and it gets more respect. My first few years on Martha’s Vineyard I didn’t believe people who said they rarely read the local … Continue reading
Insider, Outsider
When Senator Elizabeth Warren came to the Vineyard for a town hall last month (see “The Line, the Hall, and the Senator” for details), an estimated 1,000 people filled a hall whose official capacity is about 800. When my four … Continue reading
Some Personal History
Here’s an addendum of sorts to “Tolerant, Up to a Point,” posted yesterday. During the discussion of the Vineyard’s lesbian and gay history at the Spectrum Film Festival, an audience member mentioned Margaret Webster (1905–1972), the eminent Anglo-American actor and theater … Continue reading
Into the Mud
The title of my first novel, The Mud of the Place, came from its epigraph, a quote from a 1994 interview with the late poet-writer-activist Grace Paley: “If your feet aren’t in the mud of a place, you’d better watch where your … Continue reading
Against Perfectionism
On January 30 I finally did the deed: I changed my voter registration from Unenrolled to Democrat. Written confirmation from the town clerk’s office was dated the 31st. A very small step for a woman, so it seems, but to … Continue reading
Beginner
Once upon a time I must have made New Year’s resolutions. Who hasn’t? I doubt I kept many of them. Who does? It’s a cliché how much exercise equipment winds up in the classifieds by the first of February. I did … Continue reading
A Liberal Paradox
The other day I overheard a guy I know who most certainly voted for Trump complain that a guy he knows has said he won’t do business with Trump supporters. Well, I wasn’t about to wade into that one. I … Continue reading
Do We Love Our Freedom?
I’ve written before about my ambivalence about Veterans Day. November 11 was the birthday of my uncle Neville, a gentle soul who came home shell-shocked from World War II, so the family story goes, and never really got his feet … Continue reading
Campaigning
I spent a couple of hours yesterday knocking on doors in Oak Bluffs on behalf of Dylan Fernandes, Democratic candidate for state representative from our district, and Julian Cyr, Democratic candidate for state senator. Knocking on strangers’ doors is way … Continue reading
