Here we are in November. It has been a crazy month already. Many of us are feeling stressed and holiday prep has barely begun. But November is also a time for self reflection, gratitude, service, community and family as we celebrate Veterans Day (11/11), World Kindness Day (11/13), National Gratitude Month and Thanksgiving (11/28).

All of that makes this the perfect moment for me to have picked up the book “What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service” by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack. I know that seems like so much of the past, but I still love the show for so many reasons: the fast pace, the inside look at a place I’ll likely never be, and, of course, the incredible characters.  (And yes, we do have all seven seasons on DVD.) I also love the idealism expressed in the show and the emphasis on service. Don’t get me wrong — it’s fun reading about the show’s inception, casting process and little tidbits behind the scenes — it is really the service that’s the inspiring legacy of the show. Every cast member had a cause including animal rescue, breast cancer, and prison reform, and they all supported each other in their causes — and still do. Continue reading “Welcome to November”

And by “they,” I mean the aliens. Obviously.

Feats of engineering and buildings on a grand scale have long captured the minds and imaginations of futurists. The Eiffel Tower, originally planned to be a somewhat temporary structure for the 1889 World’s Faire, a marvel of being the first man-made structure to surpass both 200 and 300 meters, evoked awe and wonder in attendees and tourists long thereafter as both a symbol of France’s past hundred years as a republic and as a monument to greatness yet to come. The tower held the prestigious record of tallest structure in the world for four decades, before being unseated by the Chrysler Building in the ‘30s. “I ought to be jealous of the Tower,” Gustav Eiffel once bemoaned, “she is far more famous than I.”  Quickly, those whose imaginations drifted forward towards the question of “what if” asked: If our mastery of science and technology had given us this power, what more could we build? How much higher will we go?  Continue reading “If You Build It, They Will Come: Megastructures and Feats of Macroengineering in Science Fiction”

This has been an exhausting year and it’s not over yet! I’m trying to find small ways to find comfort and restoration. If you are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted too, maybe you need a good book — a literary bubble bath or book blanket?

For me, one of those books is “The Backyard Bird Chronicles” by Amy Tan. She has developed such an intense love and knowledge of the birds that visit her yard. Her wonder and awe at every new bird she encountered was palpable as was the sadness over any loss. And Amy Tan’s artwork is just as incredible as her writing. I happened to get this book at one of those perfect moments when my daughter was home from college and we discovered the free Merlin app for identifying bird songs and calls in our own backyard. We also got the game Wingspan as a gift. Suddenly our whole world was a comforting veil of birds with the rest of life and politics a distant (albeit persistent) murmur. And this was just one of several comforting bird books on my stack with others including “The Comfort of Crows” and the novel, “Crow Talk.”

“If there is anything I have learned these past six years, it is this: Each bird is surprising and thrilling in its own way. But the most special is the bird that pauses when it is eating, looks and acknowledges I am there, then goes back to what it was doing.” ~”The Backyard Bird Chronicles” by Amy Tan

Continue reading “Finding Comfort in a Book”