Old School Posts

• ILI Not-So-Daily Charms 08.31.09

  A few weeks ago, I threw open the doors of ILI Charm School. I promised that I would offer up some lovely links on a daily basis to enhance the educational experience here. I did not keep my promise. Sorry for that. But I still love the idea of being a hunter and gatherer in the wild of the Web,

• You Are Not Happy

  I hate to break it to you. Especially because I don't know you. Or, maybe I do. Maybe you are my sister. Or my mother. Or my mother-in-law. Or my friend. Or my neighbor. Or my daughter's teacher. Or my husband. Or my barista. Or maybe you are me. Then again, you can never really know someone. Ev

• I Am Not a "Chinese Mother"

  I do not claim to be a perfect mother. Or to know what it means to be a perfect mother. Or to believe in the existence of Perfect Mothers. But I will say one thing: I am not mean to my girls. Do I snap from time to time - out of exhaustion or exasperation? Of course. I'm only human. But I ha

• The Passion Problem

  It wasn't a fight. (For better or worse, Husband and I don't fight.) It was more of a conversation. A real one, layered, textured, difficult. One I initiated. "What's wrong?" I asked Husband, looking up from my laptop screen. "Nothing," he said. "What's wrong?" I asked. "It's just th

• Not Too Shabby

  Cerulean skies. Cotton clouds. Sisterly sunshine. Soft sand. Winsome waves. Happy horizons. And a sandy donut. Not too shabby.

• Where I've Been (Part One: The Woods)

  My post-vacation mind is soft. The sharp edges and critical corners are missing for now. Instead, there is a sweet swirl of images. Images of where I've been. Images of North Pond. Of big fish and big love. Of life and legacy. Of family and freedom and fireflies. Of trees, tall

• Toasted Blonde

  Me this morning: "It's official.  I don't want to go back to college." Husband: "Well, that's good because you can't go back to college." But boy did I try last night.  I was all smiles, sipping Pinot like water, chit chatting.  One of our stops along the way? Bar -- a famous New Haven haun

• Maidy-Bunks' Picnic

  Two years ago, on the eve of Dad's sixty-sixth birthday, I printed out the pages of my novel. I hole punched them, ten pages at a time, and put them in a white binder from Staples. And then I wrote him a letter. And that little letter was a million times harder to write than my book. Last night,

• Dear Dad

  Dear Dad, Wherever you're fly-fishing these days, I'm sure there's no Internet access. And if there were, you wouldn't care or know how to use it. So I will keep this short. I miss you more than I have ever missed anything. Your silly smile. Your dancing mustache. Your irreverent wit. Your

• Youthfully Gray

  Yesterday, ideas were nipping me like magical mosquitoes. Persistent. Pesky. Proud. But today? Not so much. Today is different. Today, I am a bit stuck, lost, paralyzed. Not in a bad way. No. Today, I feel pressure whereas yesterday I felt freedom. Today, I feel overwhelmed whereas yesterday I f