A quick correction-- I will be at the UAA Bookstore tomorrow evening 5-7, not 7 as I mistakenly typed yesterday ( I have since corrected it! ) It was pretty foggy yesterday, both outside and apparently in my brain--

It's a busy day with two obituaries to write before I leave for Anchorage (UAA Bookstore 5-7 pm Thursday night) and a writing retreat in Homer with Louise Erdrich (!) - I can't quite believe I just typed that. And today it is supposed to be 75 and sunny, which sounds equally amazing after the rain yesterday, and the cool rainy months of summer. (Now it is dark and foggy, I can hear the cruise ship horns out on Lynn Canal.) Over the weekend the bookstore changed hands, with the Heywoods passing the torch to Darcee Marsano.

"You get your confidence and intuition back by trusting yourself, by being militantly on your own side." - Anne Lamott

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Is it a coincidence, that just when I needed to hear that, I read it, flipping through Bird by Bird searching for inspiration? I don't think so. That's the faith of writers and the faith of readers. We are not talking to ourselves here, are we? We are not alone in either the writing or the reading. I like knowing that, don't you?

"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love..."

-- Marcus Aurelius  Meditations

This morning I was on a radio show with Bruce Weber, the New York Times obituary writer who wrote the obit for the man who  invented the Hokey Pokey, E.L. Doctorow, Edward Albee, Jonathan Demme.. to name a few-- He also wrote a book called Life is Wheel about cycling across the country by himself that I liked very much, so I kind of feel like I know him. We didn't actually speak on the show to each other-- he was on before I was, and he was in CT and I was in AK, but still. It was nice to share such good company.

My friend was answering his phone "path of totality" this week, and it made me laugh-- as the lingo of the eclipse, like so many things, has other meanings in the wider world. Totality: wholeness, fullness, completeness, sum total, all, everything, the whole ball of wax.

I never managed to get to Sunday's Thought yesterday, for all kinds of good reasons. Then this morning, my friend who has brain cancer and yet remains so cheerful and productive and generous with her time and talent, sent me these words from Gandhi. (She also brought me flowers last week-- shouldn't I be bringing them to her? Plus, she grew them and arranged them in the most beautiful bouquet, which was most welcome on these gray rainy days.)

Anyway, here is what she wants us to ponder:

I will be in Anchorage on Thursday, September 7 from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm ( I note the hour because I have been up from 5-7 am a lot these days..) at the UAA Campus Bookstore, reading from my books and discussing "The Local and Community in Small Town Alaska Politics." (Once again, inadvertently, I have a new area of expertise.) Please join us. I'd love to see you.  (All UAA Campus Bookstore events are free and open to the public.   There is free parking for this event in the South Lot, Sports Complex NW Lot, West Campus Central Lot, and Sports Campus West Lot.)