Once again, I’ve been a terrible correspondent and disappeared for awhile. Too long, I know.

It’s been a real roller coaster of a month, good and bad. Kids to get home from college, puppies to deal with (more later on that disaster), existential crises to wrestle with…

The bad is obvious- the oil spill (Spill. Right. Gusher, more like) hangs over the city like the slowest moving category 5 ever. It’s been a time of weird dread and helplessness, and it’s left everybody listless and depressed. Just when things were getting better it’s back to volunteering and bootstrapping.

And yet in the middle of the city’s misery there’s great personal happiness. Alison survived her first year of college like a champ. She was happy and healthy enough to use her world-class arguing skills to drive her mother crazy before heading to see her father in NJ for what’s likely to be her last “kid” summer vaca.

While she’s gone I’m going to have a busy summer, thanks to amazing and generous encouragement from Charlie to stay home and focus on the things I enjoy most- writing, photography, research- and see how I can make my passions pay.

It means a lot of things- for starters, shit or get off the pot, not to put too fine a point on it. (who, me? vulgar? lol) Stop dabbling, get serious, get to work, to be more precise.

It wasn’t easy to make the decision, but I took the plunge. Gave notice, and today starts my first week out in the great wide world. So wish me luck, don’t hesitate to hold my feet to the fire, and keep your fingers crossed for me.

More to come. Soon. I promise.