barrington99@gmail.com The day before New Year’s Eve I suffered a case of food-poisoning, with all the fun that entails. Appropriately, I ended 2018 feeling a little beaten up and drained! But the first day of 2019 is the sigh after the storm. The sun came out this morning, and — for today at least — nothing … Read more
November 11, 2018 My Dad was a fan of items — ornaments, decorations and tchotchkes– that he described as having “character”. If I brought home art from school, the highest compliment would be when he looked at something and determined it had character. Out in the world, he would have a certain amused and … Read more
November 10, 2018 This is the view from our kitchen window at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. If you are searching for the sun, direct your eye to that speck of muted brightness behind the palm tree. It’s easy to look right at it because the smoky air acts as a filter. The city smells … Read more
I was lucky this summer to get to go home for almost two whole weeks. I’ve always been grateful to be able to go back home in a way that few of my friends can. My mother still lives in my childhood home, and when I arrive, I carry my suitcase up the stairs and … Read more
I will not say that my father was a hoarder, but he was an academic, an artist and a collector of books and items related to his academic, artistic and other interests. His attitude might be summarized as — why throw things away when we have an attic… a basement… a garage? When he died … Read more
I’m in the process of submitting a short story to various journals. It occurs to me that this is an act that requires “submitting” in both senses of the word: 1) “Presenting ones work for consideration or judgement,” and 2) “yielding to or acceptance of a greater authority” (whether that greater authority is whomever has … Read more
I first heard about CINESTORY several years back when I went to a screening of an indie film called Cake. The writer talked about taking the script to the Cinestory Retreat and finding support for it there. I went to their website and thought the experience sounded amazing — spending time in an idyllic setting working with … Read more
I just got back from my summer travels. First stop was New York City. I got to see some family and friends I hadn’t seen since my last trip five years ago. I stayed in Manhattan but traveled almost every day to Brooklyn, which gave me a chance to check out some day-to-day action in … Read more
I saw this online and ordered it from Target. Super-cute right? But I didn’t look closely and I made some assumptions. Like I figured those straps probably had a hidden snap or button. Or I figured that there might be a zipper on the side. It didn’t occur to me that they would have would … Read more
You know how on the podcast Scriptnotes, at the end of the main conversation, the hosts each share One Cool Thing? An app, a game, a book that is striking their fancy. I currently have One Cool Thing X 2 — in other words, two cool things. One is the book Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson. … Read more