Julia Park Tracey

…I am trying to make head or tail out of single-parenting, and it’s never easy – but always fun, especially if you considered the Spanish Inquisition fun. Ah, religion – what a vast territory that covers, and we, the single parent, are supposed to have all the answers. Some are easy. My youngest daughter recently asked me where Jesus stood in the line of human evolution – was he before or after Cro-Magnon Man? I begged the question for a moment, tried not to burst out laughing while I pondered the irony – some people, for example, don’t believe that there was a Cro-Magnon Man. Rather than delve into thorny…

see, but all I can say is — Advice to Aspiring Writers: Writer’s block — it happens. More soon.

…yep, that’s what I’m in. Mostly because I’ve been so swamped, with the newspaper changing dates of publication (from Friday to Thursday), with elections, with running around and commuting and general busy-ness, I just haven’t had the time to post. It feels bad to miss it, so thanks for your messages and e-mail, and I will endeavor to provide. Advice to Aspiring Writers: Life gets in the way of the writing sometimes. But that’s what it’s all about, baby. I’ve found myself writing a lot in my head these days, with no way to get it onto paper (or electronically), and that is both satisfying and frustrating. Any fantasy is…

…for intimacy. Really. Picture this: You’re walking up a dark, cold, cement stairwell, with graffiti on the walls. At the top of the stairs is a heavy door. You go inside, and there are strange, frightening people — young burly men, scary women. You pass into a room walled with mirrors, where you are to undo your pants (or remove your shirt or other article of clothing). You bare your back to the artist, who touches you gently at first, smoothing your skin with a warm salve before starting up the needle. The first touch startles you nearly out of your seat, but you settle into it, bearing each stroke…

…in Sonoma. Back after a long weekend, a long (birthday) week, a long month, even though February is the shortest one. I was road-trippin’ with my gal pals, women I’ve known since early high school. It’s all good — catching up, comparing our lives, aches and pains, loves, kids, jobs, gray hair. Fun, if frightening. I think I need a few days to digest it all. So instead, apropos of nothing, here are some other random thoughts, in no particular order, but bubbling around my brain at 1:30 in the morning. *** The biggest thing: Falling for a new guy is a marvelous thing. The warm fuzzies, the firsts, the…