Category: General

“LEE GOODIN, SAN FRANCISCO” Dad’s Letters to the Editor, 2007

On the first anniversary of my father’s death, I’m grateful to my stepmother for sending me three of his letters to the editor, clipped from the San Francisco Chronicle. One of them—from August 19 , was published eleven years to the day before his death. It’s humor apparently hit the mark, as the editors used his words “erector set” to… Read more

1984: Late to the Party Again, Essay 6 of #52essays2017

In the year 1984, I was in sixth grade, a scholarship child in a private girl school. The eighth graders were reading George Orwell’s 1984 and had plastered the walls with images of our headmistress that read, “Big Sister is Watching YOU.” We didn’t know what it meant, but we understood that it was witty and smart and that that… Read more

What I See/Saw I: Hallucinations (Essay 2 of #52essays2017)

I am blind, but that does not mean I live in darkness, and I’m not just talking metaphor here. These days the visionscape confronting me sparkles and undulates, with greater or lesser intensity, constantly, veiling the world beyond with simple and complex hallucinations. The brilliance of my visionscape is not less intense in a dark room than in a brilliant… Read more

Helen Keller Quotes Explosion

You kneel on the floor with two loop pedals in front of you. Above you hangs a projected red curtain and an empty spotlight. you say, “Oh, fuck it,” and hit one of the pedals, which causes The Star of Happiness theme song instrumental interlude to play. “I was born with a degenerative eye disease called…” you hit the loop… Read more

A Girl Can Never Have Too Many Boys…

Especially when that girl is me! Last month I was asked by the wonderful David Harrell at Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts to be in his short film that was to be submitted to the 2015 48 Hour Disability Film Challenge. The genre for all participants was romantic comedy, so with several more guys than girls on our team… Read more

The Igor & Millennium Guide Dog Fund

As many of you know, my dear guide dog Igor passed away very suddenly last September. I knew almost immediately that I had to make some good come out of this terrible loss, so I decided to raise funds for the Animal Medical Center, which did so much for him throughout his short life and so much for both of… Read more