Back in the classroom!

Within days of posting my blog about how I didn’t “miss” public school teaching, I got an invitation to come present a special “guest lesson” to Suzanne Knutzen’s 4th grade class at Ocean Park Elementary. And I have to admit, I jumped at the chance! Fourth graders are...

Live! Science Fiction Radio!

I’m inextricably drawn to the more creative, quirky kinds of people: Actors, musicians, writers, artists, circus clowns and hams of all types. So naturally, during the UFO Festival in McMinnville a couple weeks ago, you could find me hanging out with The Willamette...

So what do you do all day?

It’s been awhile since I’ve been behind a public school teacher’s desk—nine years ago today, to be exact—and yet I’m still fairly frequently asked if I “miss” teaching. Granted, teaching minor children consumed 30 consecutive years of my life, but I’ve been “no longer...

Facial Recognition

I recently got my driver’s license renewed, and for the first time since I starting wearing glasses—over 35 years ago—I was asked to remove them for the photo. “But I can’t see without them,” I told the man behind the desk. “So I certainly won’t be caught driving...

Two months and counting

Back in mid-March, which now seems like at least a hundred years ago, Rick promised me he wouldn’t die in May or June. “May is my birth month,” he explained, “and June is yours, so don’t worry about me checking out during those two months.” He made good on that...