Hip Mamma

My little sister has done it again.

(Okay, she's really my sister-in-law, but I think of her as the younger sister I never had.)

What she's done is publish another essay. This one in Hip Mama, "a magazine bursting with political commentary and ribald tales from the front lines of motherhood."

What I like about her latest creation, "Clear Blue (but not so) Easy," is that it's written with style and courage.

It's very personal and very real.

Check it out.

The Best Ones

Here are my choices for the best of 2007 ...

Best song I never would have heard if not for the iPod ads: "1234," by Feist.

Best song I never would have heard if not for the TV show John from Cincinnati: "Johnny Appleseed," by Joe Strummer.

Best continuation of a brilliant career: Magic, by Bruce Springsteen.

Best movie I haven't seen yet: Juno.

Quirky comedy that deserved better: The Darjeeling Limited.

Breakout paperback sensation: Eat, Pray, Love.

Evocative book title: Like You'd Understand, Anyway.

Best essay by a much admired family member: "Testing: One, Two, Three?"

Best blog: Chimichangas at Sunset.

Cutest dog ever: Bodie.

Best new TV series: John from Cincinnati.

Best magazine article: Fast Company's November cover story: "This Mechanic Can Get You 100 MPG (Why Can't Detroit?)."

Best novel I've read in the past year: The Lay of the Land, by Richard Ford.

Best road trip: Along the coast to Santa Barbara.

Woman of the year (this year and every year): Joanne Riske.

What to Believe

Janet thinks I'm skeptical — one of the most skeptical people she's ever run into.

It's always interesting when people make observations like that about you. You get to compare how they perceive you with how you perceive yourself. The truth is, I have always been a very trusting person, and I choose to remain trusting, generally speaking, in spite of everything.

But I know why Janet thinks I'm skeptical. It's because I argue with her on matters of faith.

Janet has become a serious student of the Bible again after years of exploring other paths. I'm more interested in the other paths.

I no longer call myself a Christian because I think it's a loaded term, loaded with preconceptions, and I'm trying to move beyond that — beyond my own preconceptions and the confining concepts of others.

(As an aside, I had the great good fortune of studying under the late Dr. Gordan Frazee, a self-described Christian mystic, at Linfield College in Oregon. While he had a deep knowledge of the Bible and all it's possible interpretations, his most lasting lesson was simply the way he lived his life. One of his great virtues was not trying to make his students see things his way — a virtue I'm still striving toward. Not that I have any students, but you know what I mean.)

When Janet talks about the Bible, I tend to point out what I see as lapses in logic and flawed reasoning. She, on the other hand, seems to think of logic as a tired argument that no longer works for her.

The surprise here is that I don't really disagree with her on that point (if I understood her correctly). Logic and reason will only take you so far.

Janet doesn't believe in hell.

I don't either.

She says she came to that conclusion from studying the Bible.

I came to the same conclusion, not through the Bible and not through reason. Some things you just know, deep down, and that's what I trust. More than the Bible. More than reason.

No Particular Order

For the man and woman who brought me into the world.
For the sisters who taught me how to play tennis.
For the surgeon who removed my appendix before it burst.
For the dentist who capped my broken tooth.
For the master who taught me yoga.
For the mechanic who fixes my car.
For the singer who sings that song I like.
For the friends who lift me up when I'm down.
For the woman who still loves me after all these years.
Thanks.

Don't Stop Now

We spread a blanket off to one side of the boat launch, under some trees. Island Lake, in Shelton, Washington, is surrounded by small private homes, and this is the only public access. Since it's still early in the season and the homeowners tend to take the lake for granted, there are no boats or skiers out.

It's 1972, and we're both seventeen.

That's how the story begins. The story "Don't Stop Now" in Hobart.

Hobart is one of my favorite literary journals, and the story appears this month in the online edition.

It's basically a distillation of a novel I started writing in 1972 when I was 17. Two hundred forty-four pages down to five. Reader's Digest, eat your heart out.

Like many first novels, mine was awful (embarrassingly so) and now languishes in the back of a closet, where it belongs. The short story, on the other hand, is pretty darn good. An editor at Esquire called it "a pleasure to read," even if it wasn't really appropriate for the magazine.

More importantly, Hobart loved it.

So, don't stop now; hop on over to Hobart and check it out.

Testing: One, Two, Three?

I'm not the target audience for Literary Momma. It is, after all, "A Literary Magazine for the Maternally Inclined."

Can a man be maternally inclined, or would we call that paternally inclined? Are they different? I couldn't say. I'm not even a parent.

So why do I find myself reading Literary Momma today? Because of a great article called "Testing: One, Two, Three?" by Gretchen Clark.

To me, this piece of creative nonfiction does what great literature is supposed to do: Put you in someone else's shoes and let you experience what it's like to be them. Even if you're not like them. Even if you're someone of a different gender, someone in completely different circumstances.

In just 14 paragraphs, "Testing: One, Two, Three?" gave me a vivid glimpse into the complex and conflicting emotions of motherhood.

What's more, I now feel like I know Gretchen Clark, even though I've already known her for more than 30 years.

She's my sister-in-law.

Writer's Profile

Childhood Ambition: Be the best writer who ever lived. (I was 10 and had never heard of Shakespeare.)

Little-Known Fact: Had first story published (on a mimeograph machine) when in the fourth grade.

Honors: Won first place in a feature-writing contest in high school, despite horrible spelling.

Influences: John Knowles, Earnest Hemingway, Philip Roth, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, Elizabeth Tallent, Milan Kundera.

Proudest Moment So Far: Having my first short story published in the Beloit Fiction Journal. (I have another story coming out in Hobart next month that I'm equally proud of.)

Inspiration: Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward, who told me she collected 120 rejections before her first story was published. (It does pay to be persistent.)

Most Encouraging Note: "I think you're a good writer and I liked what I read ... I cannot flatter where writing is concerned." - L.H., SoHo Press.

Most Discouraging Note: "I'm afraid this is nowhere near the novel I had hoped for." - L.H., SoHo Press.

Best Advice from a Fellow Writer: "Diversify your emotional investments." - Greg Bardsley.

Goal: Be more playful.