- The Art of Getting Lost
We decided to get lost yesterday. I had read about the art of getting lost on a placard in the Museu d’Història de Barcelona. But I had never purposely gotten lost and wanted to try it. So we took the tram, then the metro to Liceu, and walked through Old Town to El Born, to one…
- Writing and Painting the Hidden Things that People Dare Not Face or Say
Ah, the secrets we keep, the longings and desires we hide. We are afraid to be honest with others (and sometimes, rightly so); tragically, we are scared to be honest with ourselves. If you dare, play a game with me. Look, in your mind, at this photograph. Is it of a nude (or would…
- My Biggest Regret
I regret wasting decades of my life while consuming media: mainstream media like the NYTimes, Axios, Politico, CNN, et al., and social media like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Threads. For some people, these may be good things, but for me, they became an increasingly unhealthy addiction. I firmly believe a porn addiction is far…
- The Greatest Country In The World?
*First, A Note to My Courageous Readers: As we enter 2025, my weekly goal for these writings is to reflect what I feel are the essentials of life: sensuality, curiosity, communion, and freedom. I am grateful to have the freedom to write about things that are important to me, to be free to write in…
- Dead Week
The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day always seems weird. Some people call it “dead week.” In Spain, we call it puente–it is customary that when a holiday falls midweek, you bridge the gap and take the days between as a holiday. Time goes into a warp, neither long nor short. Everything is out of rhythm, out…
- The Books I Loved in 2024
My Top 10 Books of 2024
- Happy Holidays from España
- What I Learned Spending a Day with a Master Chef from Basque Country Spain
Since my retirement at age 48, I have loved cooking, but now that we are here in Spain, it has become one of the supreme joys of my life. The Basque Country in northern Spain is celebrated worldwide for its haute cuisine. The combination of Spanish zest and French elegance is evident in every bite….
- Protected: Too Big for My Britches
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- A Year in Spain (Part Two)
We moved to Spain a year ago today. The most significant difference has been how safe and calm we feel living here. The Spanish have a beautiful word for it: Tranquilo. Three hundred days of sunshine a year and welcoming and joyous people have done wonders for my mood. It turns out I wasn’t depressed….
- A Year in Spain
As of December 7, we have lived in Barcelona for twelve months. To quote a line from a favorite movie, “Inconceivable!” It started in early 2023 with us dreaming, “Oh my, what if we could be like Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, Salvador and Gala Dali, Pablo Picasso and Genevieve Laporte? What if we were…
- Guapa
Original Watercolor on Handmade Paper 2024 51 x 38 cm Guapa is the Spanish word for beautiful.
- A Bittersweet Thanksgiving
Spain does not celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a distinctively American experience. It is ironic that last year in America, Gina and I spent Thanksgiving alone at our home in Dunedin. However, Ray, our long-time friend (over three decades), and his partner Alan will be with us this year. We plan to gather around the table…
- What My Two Affairs Taught Me About Infidelity
I’m not sure it’s possible to justify my liaisons with two women (one married, one divorced), but what I learned from having them warrants discussion—not between their husband and ex and me. However, it might be interesting to hear that side. No, I submit that it would be healthy if this discussion happened between partners…
- My Raw Thoughts A Few Minutes After the 2024 Presidential Election Was Called
Shock. Horror. Disbelief. Disappointment. Hollow vindication. These are a few of the violent emotions that swept over me this morning when the Associated Press confirmed that a psychopathic criminal filled with hatred has been re-elected President of the United States. Surreal. I would never have dreamed this would happen after the traitorous attempted coup and…
- Four Days of Solitude and Magic at Montserrat Monastery
For the past four days, I have disappeared from the world. No media, no people, no news, just me. Alone with myself. For three nights and four blissful days, I retreated to the Montserrat Monastery, high in the mountains of Spain. Montserrat is a Spanish name derived from the Latin terms “mons” (mountain) and “serratus”…
- My Most Controversial Art Yet. Why?
I grew up smothered by religion. My father and both grandfathers were preachers. Sexual pleasure never came up in family conversations or sermons. To this day. And I’m 66 years old. Never will I forget, at around age eleven or twelve, waking up with wet white stuff covering my sheet. I had been dreaming about…
- What’s Making Me Happy
Many of us are anxious during election seasons, particularly this one when so much is on the line for my birth country. When I’m feeling freaked out and depressed, I turn to things that make me happy, i.e., soothing music—something I put on while I’m cooking comfort food. Here are a few things that make…
- My Latest Watercolor
(Click painting to enlarge) Fragmentation Original Watercolor on Handmade Paper 44 x 50 cm I’d like very much to have painted a cohesive picture with a soothing palette today. I would like to be as good as nature, which, with time, produces flowers and grass to cover destruction. But we are a world of fragmented…
- Let’s Pretend We’re Dancing in the Streets Of Barcelona
They are achingly beautiful, these romantic cities—Barcelona, Paris, Rome. The contours of Europe are far more mysterious and deeply layered than those of America. They are like the “promised land” I had always been told about but knew deep in my heart did not exist. It was like I had died and gone to heaven,…
- Body Language
Graphite and Watercolor on Paper 2024 46 x 61 cm This is the first watercolor I’ve attempted in several months. I am still working on eyes. What does her body language tell you about her?
- Leaving Is Most Definitely An Option
There are times in life when leaving is the only healthy option. To leave is to go away from someone or something temporarily or permanently. So many people stay in abusive relationships (emotional and physical), falsely believing they have no option but to stay. Here are a few things I’ve left, and I am much…
We decided to get lost yesterday. I had read about the art of getting lost on a placard in the Museu d’Història de Barcelona. But I had never purposely gotten lost and wanted to try it. So we took the tram, then the metro to Liceu, and walked through Old Town to El Born, to one…
Ah, the secrets we keep, the longings and desires we hide. We are afraid to be honest with others (and sometimes, rightly so); tragically, we are scared to be honest with ourselves. If you dare, play a game with me. Look, in your mind, at this photograph. Is it of a nude (or would…
The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day always seems weird. Some people call it “dead week.” In Spain, we call it puente–it is customary that when a holiday falls midweek, you bridge the gap and take the days between as a holiday. Time goes into a warp, neither long nor short. Everything is out of rhythm, out…
My Top 10 Books of 2024
Since my retirement at age 48, I have loved cooking, but now that we are here in Spain, it has become one of the supreme joys of my life. The Basque Country in northern Spain is celebrated worldwide for its haute cuisine. The combination of Spanish zest and French elegance is evident in every bite….
We moved to Spain a year ago today. The most significant difference has been how safe and calm we feel living here. The Spanish have a beautiful word for it: Tranquilo. Three hundred days of sunshine a year and welcoming and joyous people have done wonders for my mood. It turns out I wasn’t depressed….
As of December 7, we have lived in Barcelona for twelve months. To quote a line from a favorite movie, “Inconceivable!” It started in early 2023 with us dreaming, “Oh my, what if we could be like Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, Salvador and Gala Dali, Pablo Picasso and Genevieve Laporte? What if we were…
Spain does not celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a distinctively American experience. It is ironic that last year in America, Gina and I spent Thanksgiving alone at our home in Dunedin. However, Ray, our long-time friend (over three decades), and his partner Alan will be with us this year. We plan to gather around the table…
I’m not sure it’s possible to justify my liaisons with two women (one married, one divorced), but what I learned from having them warrants discussion—not between their husband and ex and me. However, it might be interesting to hear that side. No, I submit that it would be healthy if this discussion happened between partners…
Shock. Horror. Disbelief. Disappointment. Hollow vindication. These are a few of the violent emotions that swept over me this morning when the Associated Press confirmed that a psychopathic criminal filled with hatred has been re-elected President of the United States. Surreal. I would never have dreamed this would happen after the traitorous attempted coup and…
For the past four days, I have disappeared from the world. No media, no people, no news, just me. Alone with myself. For three nights and four blissful days, I retreated to the Montserrat Monastery, high in the mountains of Spain. Montserrat is a Spanish name derived from the Latin terms “mons” (mountain) and “serratus”…
Many of us are anxious during election seasons, particularly this one when so much is on the line for my birth country. When I’m feeling freaked out and depressed, I turn to things that make me happy, i.e., soothing music—something I put on while I’m cooking comfort food. Here are a few things that make…
They are achingly beautiful, these romantic cities—Barcelona, Paris, Rome. The contours of Europe are far more mysterious and deeply layered than those of America. They are like the “promised land” I had always been told about but knew deep in my heart did not exist. It was like I had died and gone to heaven,…
There are times in life when leaving is the only healthy option. To leave is to go away from someone or something temporarily or permanently. So many people stay in abusive relationships (emotional and physical), falsely believing they have no option but to stay. Here are a few things I’ve left, and I am much…