First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

Hope for 2019

Meet 2 new members of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. #YearOfTheWoman

Holiday Peace

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Photo via Visual Poetry

Tech Friends

Last month, I bought an Amazon Echo. So far, I’ve used it as a speaker to play music and a timer when I’m cooking. I’ve also asked “Alexa” for the definition of contronym, the current outside temperature and for info on Stephan James, the Canadian actor in Homecoming (my top TV series of the year). As much as I love technology, I’m not sure it would make my gratitude list. What are your favorite-gadgets?

Thankfulness by Roz Chast

Finding Balance at Week’s End

Yesterday, I looked at the sky during sunset and it was almost magenta. While in awe of the beauty, I wondered how much smoke contributed to it. Early this morning, someone texted me a photo of a small fire in the hillside behind my apartment. I shuddered to think we might be next. The fire was quickly contained. For now, where I live, life moves on. As I write this, it’s Friday night, a weekly time for me to have hope. I’m depending on it.

Illustration by Jean Jullien

Let it Snow

1972 New Yorker cover by Arthur Getz

Before the iPhone

“The pace of life was more patient and communication was spoken face to face, rather than texted across a room, when it was easier to connect across the dining table than across the world.”

Photo and artist statement by Paul Sokal from his exhibition, Before iPhone.

In Search of Light

It’s still 5 weeks till the shortest daylight of the year. And I’m already feeling the weight of darkness. Granted, it’s been an awful week in California, and on Saturday, even at noon, the sun was obscured by smoke. We’re all looking for light wherever we can find it. And tonight, I’m grateful for you.

Photo by Vanessa Mckeown

Thanksgiving Hues

What food’s your must-have for Thanksgiving?

Photo by Lucia Litman

California Inferno

My neighborhood is safe, but smoke hovers in the air. Tens of thousands have had to evacuate, some of whom I know. Mother Nature is roaring after another disquieting week. I’ll be counting my blessings tonight.

Photo by Grant Denham

Grace

The other day, I came across a photo of my grandmother, or Nana as we used to call her. Born in Latvia, she immigrated to the U.S. at the turn of the last century to escape the pogroms. After that, she lived in Brooklyn alongside other Jewish immigrants. Nana was the kindest woman and one of my fiercest allies. Before her death, she gave my mom her wedding ring to hold for me when I got married. I was living in San Francisco when my grandmother died. 20  years later, I’m still haunted by the fact that I didn’t fly back for her funeral. What excuse could I possibly have had? I can no longer remember. With a heavy heart, I’ve had to forgive myself. And I hope somewhere in the astral, she and my parents do, too. 

Sign by Olivia Steele