If you live alone, if your family is scattered far and wide, if you recently lost a partner or spouse, if you can’t afford the plane...
Short Takes
Friday, the 13th, “The Testaments,” Hospice, Apple Pies & More
The Real Low Down on Friday the 13th Here’s a little known fact, which I learned during my studies of Women’s Spirituality: the number 13 was originally a lucky number. Thirteen was considered the most essentially female number — the average number of menstrual cycles in a year is 13. Thirteen is also the approximate number of [...]
Pat Taub
Politically Overwhelmed, A Swedish blogger, Nina Turner in Portland & More!
Stop the World I Want to Get Off! This week I’ve been identifying with the ‘60’s musical, “Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” rattled by the news of the blazing fires in the Amazon to reports that the world has experienced the hottest summer ever to the rolling out of Trump’s increasingly meaner migrant policies, like keeping [...]
Pat Taub
Visiting Manhattan, Ilhan and Rashiad, “Why They Marched” & More
New York City Memories Last weekend I visited Manhattan where I met up with an old friend. We visited art museums, saw two excellent off-Broadway plays, ate well and developed blisters walking from the Village to Uptown. Here are some favorite images from my trip. Mojada, the Play A highlight of my New York visit was seeing [...]
Pat Taub
Big Apple Weekend, Cecile Richards Visit, Remembering Toni Morrison & More!
Manhattan Bound I’m off to the Big Apple this weekend to meet up with an old friend from Key West, where I lived briefly in the early 2000’s. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in art and off-Broadway plays as I take a newsbreak from all the escalating bad news here and abroad. Art museums in particular have always been a solace. [...]
Pat Taub
Magic, Remembering James Baldwin, My Garden & More!
A Bit of Magic I still believe in magic, like this sighting from my downtown Portland window. Imagine my surprise when I pulled my blinds the other morning to spot a bunch of polka-dotted balloons tied to a fire hydrant right outside my window. I’m sure there’s a rational explanation but I prefer to believe, since I love polka dots [...]
Pat Taub
Fierce Role Models, Summer Sightings, The War on Migrant Families
Fierce Role Models While the world is rapidly going to hell in a hand basket I find hope in the brave young women taking a stand for their beliefs. Megan Rapinoe, the star US Women’s soccer player has repeatedly spoken out, insisting that professional women’s soccer receive the same pay as their male counterparts. Rapinoe addressed [...]
Pat Taub
Horrible News Week, Women’s Soccer, Tulsi Gabbard & More
Horrible News Week This week has been one where I’ve been royally challenged by all the depressing news: the Supremes’ Ruling to allow gerrymandering to proceed is a major blow to free elections; the horrific stories of migrant kids in concentration camps being denied medical care, soap, toothbrushes, outdoor exercise, etc.; Pelosi’s [...]
Pat Taub
Portland has a Good Week, “A Handmaid’s Tale,” Pride Parade & More!
Maine Initiatives Last night I attended the annual cocktail party/award gathering of Maine Initiatives, founded in 1993 to fund grassroots and community-based organizations working for peace and justice. It was wonderful to see a huge crowd that was both multi-racial and multi-ages. It gave me hope to see such an outpouring of Mainers [...]
Pat Taub
Family, “Frankenstein,” Ava DuVernay & Summer Arrives
Family News Last weekend I traveled to Chicago for my grandson’s 8thgrade graduation. Max lives with his older sister, Jane, 15 and parents in Oak Park, a Chicago suburb. As the saying goes, time flies by. I have vivid memories of Max’s birth 14 years ago this August. It was bittersweet because it was the same month Hurricane Katrina [...]
Pat Taub
Manhattan Sightings from My Memorial Day Weekend
I’m devoting this week’s “Short Takes” to events and sightings from my Memorial Day weekend in New York City. RBG Strolling in the Village I spotted this storefront hand-painted image of the wonderful RBG or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, our formidable Supreme Court Justice. She has become a national icon. Stonewall Memorial Park In [...]
Pat Taub