A very special Magpie Moments to Rot Your Teeth and Clog Your Arteries
This is a very special episode of Magpie Moments. Don’t worry—unlike the sitcoms of the 1980s, “very special episode” doesn’t mean you’ll learn an important lesson about how to treat people who are different from you, nor will anyone be stricken by a disease we should all know about. When I say “very special,” it usually means chocolate is involved. At first I thought she’d left, but when I rose from my own chair I could see her silhouette through the screen door, settling down on the concrete front steps. I crossed to the fridge, retrieved a baggie of fresh Read more…
Fried Corn Nuggets (Welcome Back to the South) and Book Signing
As you’ve probably noticed, I live in Hawaii, but I’ve been traveling on the mainland lately. I was recently lucky enough to revisit some of my (i.e. Sydney’s fictionalized) old Tallahassee haunts. I was surprised by the usual—how much some places changed, and how much others stayed the same—and also by my reactions to those changes and resilient bits. I’ll be writing about it soon, but I want to give my observations and reactions time to ferment into something beyond blathering, like sharing kombucha instead of stale tea. (Okay, I should have warned you, I’m still pretty time zone-addled, and Read more…
Magpie Moments: The Power of the Magic Black Brew
My blog schedule is a bit off right now while I’m traveling, but I’m bringing you a Magpie Moments post with the hopes of having something more visually interesting for you later in the week. Maybe a little caffeine would help me accomplish that goal. Which is, of course, my not-so-subtle transition to the subject of my post. ☕ I am a big fan of the various shades of Black Brew, and of the places where you purchase it, i.e. coffee and coffee shops. Our “company” hot coffee is our favorite locally grown Kaū coffee. Cold-drip Louisiana coffee with chicory Read more…
Magpie Moments: A Cute Car with a Cockney Accent
I’m in the throes of planning for upcoming travel while watching lava and possibly a hurricane (i.e. real-life dramas), and the conclusion of the second Sydney Brennan novel (not real-life, but so much more dramatic—I promise!), so I’m going to keep this Magpie Moments installment short and sweet. Like Sydney’s car. I’d left my car in the carport, but Cecil, a light blue Volkswagon Cabrio, didn’t take up much room. Back to Lazarus, Chapter 21 And later in the book… “Cecil shouldn’t give you any problems either.” “Cecil?” “Yes, my car’s name is Cecil, and he speaks with a cockney Read more…
Honk If It’s Time for Me to Hide Your Keys
I almost skipped the blog post tonight because… well, because it would be easier to skip it. Instead I decided to keep it brief and Public Service Announcement-like. I feel like if I plotted my stress levels lately, it would look like those graphs of atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the past thousand or so years, with the past month or two being the onset of the Industrial Age. Too science geeky? Okay, how about this… When I was in college, and for whatever reason started running around like a crazy person, there was a guy who would, in Lloyd fashion (John Cusack in Read more…
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