Can’t access WordPress? I just wait.

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It’s the lazy person’s solution and today a gift from the gods.

I lost administrative access to this site a couple of months ago. I did some quick searching to find the solution and got as far as figuring out that it meant I had to figure out how to access the back end – through the server, specifically through something called PhpMyadmin. If that means nothing to you, you don’t need to know more. I think I’ve seen PhpMyadmin at some point in my time writing this blog, but I really have no idea how to get in there. Being a busy girl with demands on my time, I had to take an unwanted hiatus from posting because I didn’t have time to figure out the fix.

Today I mustered the energy … and discovered the problem had solved itself. So here I am again, courtesy of the gods and goddesses of blogging and creativity and coding.

Actually, the gods and goddesses of creativity have shined on me this week. I’m taking a much-needed week off work, escaping the huge project that has been eating up 50+ hours per week for several months. I shut my work computer down Friday night, and aside from a couple of hours of final tidying yesterday I’ve no plans to fire it back up again unless I’m summoned back for an emergency. Continue reading →

Labors of love

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Labor Day weekend found me in my happy place in Michigan, reading and writing, beaching, loving on my aging dogs, and enjoying the company of dear friends. I wrote a couple of poems whose staying power remains uncertain—I’ll revisit them in a couple of weeks to see if they feel right—and was thrilled to get an acceptance letter from a new online poetry journal. My Labor Day labors might not bear any fruit, but labors that preceded them did, and that feels good. I’ll share details when the poem is actually published; meanwhile, I bask in acceptance. Continue reading →

Reading, writing, more reading

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I‘m a sucker for mystery reading, and I’ve just posted a new review at Escape Into Life of a Cuban mystery called Grab a Snake by the Tail. It’s set in Havana’s Chinatown district, which I didn’t even know existed, and it’s full of enough seedy atmosphere and surprising Cuban-Chinese culture to make me wish for a real-life peak at the neighborhood. It’s a strange book, and I had some love-hate issues with the detective protagonist (I’d call it Cuban noir, and our hero is definitely flawed), but it was fun. If you like mysteries, give it a try.

Want to stick closer to home? Pick up Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke. This one is set in Texas, and the writing is rich and textured and an absolute joy. Our hero is an African-American Texas ranger sent to investigate a pair of murders in a tiny rural community, and the plot is shot through with social and racial issues. It’s gritty and real and swimming in blues music and rural Texas. I just learned that a sequel is coming out in September. I don’t want to wait. Continue reading →

Irish memories

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Four years ago today, I landed at Dublin Airport on my first trip to Ireland. It’s not hyperbole to say that my life changed that day. I quickly fell in love with Ireland, and I dream of finding a way to live there. I returned with a friend a little more than a year ago, and I hope to go back many, many more times. Unless I find a way to move there. Continue reading →