First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

Have Your Book and Eat it Too!

Enjoy the long weekend.

Library cake by Kathy Knaus

Communing with Nature

Paper sculpture by Elsa Mora

Fading Days of Summer

After moving to L.A. from San Francisco, with its perpetually chilly summers, it took me ages to warm up. But 2014 has been the hottest year on record in California, and here in the Southland, it has felt like one eternal season of sweaty weather. (It’s going to be 90 tomorrow.)  In the last few days, I’ve noticed how much the light has changed. Ordinarily that harbinger of fall makes me wistful. Now, I can’t wait.

Peanuts via this isn’t happiness

Being Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Sometimes that’s all you can do.

Art by Ron Terada

The Elusive Brass Ring

Last week, I had a date and after barely 10 minutes I thought, I’d rather be single the rest of my years than spend an entire evening with him. Today, I spoke to a married pal who envied my alone time. On Saturday, I went to a picnic in the park with friends, one of whom has just started chemo for breast cancer. She’s single and her diagnosis evoked my greatest fear about not being married, which is getting sick with no one to take care of me. That evening, when I watched this woman surrounded by loving family and friends, I knew she’d be okay. And I felt better too.

Photo (for a jewelry company) by Phebe Schmidt

End of Week Zen

Illustration by Lisa Congdon

Rhythm of Life

Comic by Lizz Lunney

Letting Go

Last month, I hired a contractor to retile my patio. It was a messy and costly job, but it’s looks great. It’s my new pride and joy. Today I got home and there was a thin layer of dirt covering all the new tiles and the patio furniture. The apartment above me is being remodeled and apparently workers were cutting cabinets for it and the shavings filtered down. I tweaked my back angrily cleaning up their mess.  Breathe in. Breathe out. Just another day in the neighborhood.

Illustration by Silvia Carrus

Daily Pleasure of Tomato Season

I wait all year for cherry tomatoes. I’m patient and won’t buy them until the really sweet ones arrive in the market, and then they’re a fixture on my kitchen counter. For dinner on Sunday, I roasted them in a 300 degree for an hour and a half, having prepped them first with salt, pepper and drizzles of olive oil. I did this with confidence after reading in the wonderful cookbook by Dorie Greenspan, “don’t let having good tomatoes stop you from roasting them – the time in the oven only makes them better.” Indeed!

Photo by Emily Blincoe

Sweet Indulgences

Inspired by Julia Child, for my dinner party last night in honor of a friend’s birthday, I cooked decadent food. Mini cream puffs stuffed with goat cheese, a French pot roast with mashed potatoes and chocolate lava cake for dessert. The guests seemed satisfied. Every once in awhile, you just have to go for it.

Secret Pleasure by Boyoun Kim