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The art classroomLos Angeles Leadership Academy2012 “Alrighty then!” the petite woman at the front of the room bubbles out of her mouth with more than a touch too much enthusiasm.  Roger, the school’s founder, has just finished introducing her with “Give Carol your LA Leadership Academy best.” A half-day professional development.  Oh, joy! (Sarcasm.) *** […]

I’m biking back from an errand to the bank and drugstore. It’s damp. Winter grey. And, I’m really mad.So very, very mad. I lost my f*cking mittens. The new ones.The ones I splurged on only a month ago. “I don’t want to buy a new pair,” I whine to myself. Aiaiaiaiai. I’m nearly furious. Then,

Ten years ago, Damen and I met while he and my friend James were both housed at High Desert State Prison near Susanville, California.   Damen currently lives in Kern Valley State Prison near Bakersfield, California. James is in Pelican Bay State Prison, Crescent City.   I’ve not visited either since that initial meeting.  

Beloved, I am writing these very words you are currently reading in the past, with regard to time, from when you are reading them. It’s like time-travel. Kinda. Where I am, it’s December 22.   (You can actually see these words on the screen in the photo, above.) I’m sitting in my living room, in the

  We stand on the brink of everything collapsing.   The entire world. It’s unraveling.   The conflict in Ukraine. The ongoing tensions between Hamas and Israel.   Chaos. Bedlam. Disorder. Everywhere.   *** Voltaire had a thought I appreciate: COMPTEZ QUE LE MONDE EST UN GRAND NAUFRAGE, ET QUE LA DEVISE DES HOMMES EST,

Until editing this piece and looking for Natalie’s picture, I did not realize I had written about these Twinkies back in 2021. Enjoy the total rewrite! OLD VERSION: https://rotb.org/believed-in/ 💙rB I gesture toward the back, greenish wall—the one adorned with a dozen packing slips taped to it. I walk towards it while still addressing the

Dearest Beloved,💙rB I’m sitting at my computer.  It’s Wednesday morning, and I just finished my bi-weekly planning session with Denise, my project manager. I’m behind on the newsletter. At the latest, I try to get articles to Jenn, my editor, by Monday.  It didn’t happen. As I type right now, I’m hoping for brilliance to

Does something that annoys you on one day not annoy you on another? Often it has to do with our being H.A.L.T.S. (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, or Sick) But, sometimes it’s something else. -💙rB 36 A rug in the trunk   Today, I was surprised when I saw a rug in the trunk of my

How could I be other than mixed?   Recently, every time I’m asked, “How are you?” I jolt back to the reality that, in fact, I’m not doing well.   And how could I be?   The world seems like it’s on fire.   Again.   My people—and I’m not certain what that means—were slaughtered

A thrilling journey.About me and a Ken doll.(But really, it’s about attachment.) -💙rB Did I mention that Emmett is almost 17-years old and away for a week?  Sitting at a cafeteria table, I find myself captivated by a peculiar desire: an intense yearning for a brand-new, 1995 edition Ken doll dressed as Professor Henry Higgins, complete with