Category Archives: writing
Around the World in 30 Years
Shirley Mayhew could have rested on her laurels after publishing Looking Back: My Long Life on Martha’s Vineyard in 2014. It’s a lovely collection of personal essays covering, well, Shirley’s long life on Martha’s Vineyard, from 1947, when she arrived … Continue reading
Viral
“Going viral” has been idiomatic English for quite a while. Just about everybody, or everybody with an internet connection, knows what it means: a meme or image, story or video, goes viral when it’s diffused far and wide through the … Continue reading
Technophobia in the Time of COVID-19
I had a strong hunch three days ago when I posted “Life in the Time of COVID-19” that this was not a one-post topic. It’s not. Since I’ve been working from home as a full-time freelance editor for more than … Continue reading
Every Once in a While . . .
. . . living on Martha’s Vineyard seems worth the tradeoffs: the high cost of living, the rent insecurity, the widespread head-in-the-sand attitude to long-term challenges, and so on and on. Unfortunately there’s plenty of sand around for people to … Continue reading
On Living in Bubbles
I’ve been accused of living in a bubble. It’s true: I live in a bubble. Several bubbles. Bubbles have a bad rap. If someone accuses you of living in a bubble, they generally mean you associate only with people who … Continue reading
A Tale of Two (More) Pens
Yesterday I went to see a man about a pen. Turned out to be two pens: it could have been more, but I restrained myself. If you know me, you know I’m a pen junkie. I have more fountain pens, … Continue reading
Rice
Almost every time I cook rice, I remember my mother warning me not to lift the lid while it was cooking because then it wouldn’t come out right. Somewhere along the way I got brave and discovered that this isn’t … Continue reading
Tam Lin Goes to a Selectmen’s Meeting
How is writing about Martha’s Vineyard like a puppy chasing its own tail? Real life inspires fiction and fiction starts looking like real life and pretty soon you’ve forgotten which came first. Round and round and round . . . … Continue reading
Z is for Zoning #AtoZChallenge
When I moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 1985 I was as ignorant about zoning and land-use planning as I was about refuse disposal. (See “Unsustainable” for more about that.) My education started PDQ: In January of my first winter, I … Continue reading
Y is for Year-round #AtoZChallenge
This follows on “X is for Xenophobia,” which followed on “I is for Islander.” The more I think about this A to Z Challenge, the more I realize that everything follows on everything else. Long live hyperlinks! Categories. Year-round vs. … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 