Happy Halloween

I haven't been posting much lately. I still get outraged over, well...everything, but for the first time since I started blogging (Nov. 2002) I'm not sure about the dividing line between my blog and my work.

So much of what I do now is focused on news -- and news sources -- that I'm skittish about what I have to say personally. So I've said nothing at all. Feels most honest.

I'll work it out eventually - so until I do, I'll be reserving my outrage -- for the blog anyway -- on mostly non-political subjects.

This article about "monster bosses" today seems to be a perfect segue into wishing you a Happy Halloween. Kevin used to be the candy giver - but he'd make sure he'd give kids a good fright somehow. I'm not as creative as he was - but I do have candy ready. The fact that there are two kids under the age of 17 in my neighborhood didn't stop me from buying three bags of candy. Now why should it?

A Real Look at Grief

I can't seem to read enough reviews of Joan Didion's book"The Year of Magical Thinking." This one is particularly good. It strikes me as so odd that such a short time after I tried to figure out why I couldn't throw Kevin's old shoes away, her book appears and she speaks to the very subject -- and explains exactly what my thought process was. Scarey.

Of course I couldn't throw Kevin's shoes away, I thought at the time. He hates going barefoot. What's most astounding is that you're not aware that's what you're doing at the time. It all seemed perfectly logical at the time.

Update, Nov. 1: among the best, is this article from the Washington Post. (rr)

Springsteen Rules

Saw Springsteen last night at Nassau Coliseum. Was a bit of a skeptic about the whole acoustic thing but my sister assured me that I'd like it. She was wrong. I loved it. It was so personal - which is not an easy thing to do in a coliseum.

Job Clipping at News Orgs

Maybe all the job cuts at newspapers will force the print media to stop treating their online department as a cannibal -- and will finally realize the power of convergence. But I'm not holding my breath.

The End of Life as We Knew It

I mentioned this a wweek or so ago when New York Times Magazine ran a cover story article about Joan Didion and her husband, who died in circumstances similiar to Kevin. Didion's husband was about to eat supper; mine was about to take a nap.

Reading today's review in the NYT, made me think of the ride from the church to the crematorium the day of Kevin's funeral. My nine-year old nephew wouldn't leave my side. As we sat there, he looked at me and said - Auntie Ellen, I wish I could do magic. And I asked him why. He looked at me and said - I'd wish it was last year when we came to visit you and Uncle Kevin was okay. I realize in reading about Didion that I continue to make that wish every day. But lately it's been harder to do because the reallity is so much stronger.

I found her quote about shoes to be particularly meaningful. As I've mentioned here, I had trouble figuring out why it was so hard for me to let his shoes go. Thanks Joan. You named it perfectly. And sorry for the first name familiarity but I feel like I know her. And I won't shy away from reading her new book - The Year of Magical Thinking. If she could handle writing it, I can handle reading it.