Your reward

Hi, New Audience,

A little gift for you since you are braving this new-ish world of mine.

I had been "blogging" by hand—remember actually writing on paper?— this past year, and I see that some of what I wrote is scary. But I will share this:

"Frustration: starting a story and nobody's listening, or they stop listening and then I realize that what I am saying isn't even interesting–at least not the way I'm telling it. I fixate on stupid stuff. What's the saying..."rather than open it and remove all doubt"?

I have to let go and remember to be part of the audience. I can only safely be onstage with a script, and even then it's a shaky prospect.

The beginning of this book [the actual hard copy blank book] was August 4, 2003. A friend gave it to me. A friend then. A friend no longer. Her neglect or mine, it's not clear, but I think I will lay it on her, because I did send emails, made calls, left messages and—silence. The book's still here, non-judgmental, silent, yes, but in a good way, a listening way, because it does speak to me, back to me, my very own thoughts. Sometimes they're good."

From a trip to Cleveland in September: a sign over a shop in Little Italy: "Leave the gun–don't forget the cannoli"