(Chatter Letter From the Editor: February) The iconic off-Broadway comedy “The Fantasticks” is the world’s longest-running musical. It opened May 3, 1960 and closed January 13, 2002 after 17,162 performances. (The show was revived in 2006 and is still playing today at the Snapple Theater Center in NYC.) Its breezy score, intimate staging, and whimsical…   read more

On Saturday I had the privilege of seeing life from the confines of a 4 x 7 foot cell. Not as a result of petty theft or even because of solidarity with my imprisoned Christian brethren, but because I closed the door to the bathroom. And it was broken. And I’m an idiot. You have…   read more

Drew has become obsessed with the cracks in the floor at Esperanza’s. Esperanza’s is our family’s favorite Mexican food dive, and I’ve considered sending Drew there to work in exchange for enchiladas, much like the boy Samuel who served in the Temple. Last week he noticed a corner where the tile seems to have been…   read more

Have you ever looked at your child and thought, YES. YES. He is meant to do this or that. I can see it plain as day. A budding artist, blooming singer, emerging actress. I think I will start preparing now for the life of ease that is coming my way when he buys me my…   read more

A furry green index finger and furry green thumb pluck a morsel from the ground, a crumb too small for a mouse, leaving behind utter desolation. A quiet wind blows. It might be after Christmas, but a Grinch-like muse has taken us captive for severe organization. Not to steal away the fire trucks, dolls, trains…   read more

(Preview: January Chatter Letter from the Editor) Well, it’s 2012. The end of the world as we know it. Though I am optimistic the feral cats in our neighborhood will survive anything the Mayans can throw at them. It’s funny how at the beginning of 2012, we’re thinking about the end of civilization. Or maybe…   read more

I was minding my business one night when I heard someone talking to himself upstairs. It was Drew. I shut the music off on my computer and closed my eyes to listen. “Santa is a good guy. He not have to hug you. He goes away.” My son, without any professional instruction, had discovered the…   read more

Well, folks, it looks like I have a potty-trained child. Aren’t you thrilled? If you read this blog regularly, you are, because this means you will now get to enjoy a vast array of new topics related to world affairs, recipe mishaps, and celebrity speculation, instead of all things poop and poopy pants and pedestrian…   read more

(Chatter Letter from the Editor, December 2011) My mother is notorious for keeping every single ornament she has ever had the privilege of owning. She’s not a collector, really, and calling her an ornament hoarder would be crass; if anything, she is an ornament Advocate. She advocates on behalf of the broken angel, the faceless…   read more

You might not have had time yet to deck the halls or go wassailing or perform some other vague Christmasism, but surely you’ve noticed that Thanksgiving, our culture’s speed bump on the road to Santa, seems tiny in the rearview. So pack up the sleigh with a sugarplum or two, and prance on down to…   read more