all you single ladies

Girl, it's Leap Day. You can ask him to marry you today, and if he refuses (in some European countries), he has to buy you a dozen pairs of gloves to conceal the shame of not having a ring on it.  (Beyonce!)
And if you're pregnant and he refuses to put a ring on it—or he's a relative or he raped you or you're a child, and you don't want to see him ever again let alone ask him to marry you—get an abortion.
Unless you're in Texas in which case, you're doubly fucked. Because in Texas they have come up with so many restrictions on abortion clinics that half had to shut down. Some facts.
Is that a case for the Supreme Court? Yes. Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt will be argued this week, and the New York Times weighs in. Pro fetal-life and pro female-life groups will rally outside. You can wear purple and watch live streaming of the event. Don't miss John Oliver's impassioned argument at the bottom of the Whole Women's Health web page.
Donna Ferrato and I will be there doing what I can only call advocacy journalism—for ourselves and our daughters. Why do men get to decide what we do with our bodies? Fight the patriarchy!

blackout

In the dark of the moon. I know I have been remiss in the past weeks. Internet issues. But I am well and promise to resume on Monday. Lots to show and tell!

oops

The water department on Block Island usually dowses to find the valve with which to turn on and off my water. In the middle of my driveway. It was leaking, though, and so they dug the whole thing up. In the process they cut my phone line—though fortunately not my electrical line.

super bowls

Since I don't have a TV and wanted to watch the half-time show (in which, predictably, Bey and Bruno rocked the house and made Coldplay look like a pale imitation of a band) (what were the organizers thinking?), Toby invited me upstairs, where I had a super bowl of popcorn. The evening before I had several super bowls of $1 oysters. But Toby was disappointed by the game and even the ads.

roundup

The storm overnight brought down a crane that killed somebody just  a block from Donna Ferrato's TriBeCa loft. But they are all ok. Word: If you see a crane, walk around it.
 Robert Bobrow has posted another story on Huff Post: "Your Electronic Medical Record is Filled with Gibberish"about how the computer screen barricades doctor and patient.
On another note, a piece on Sam Kendig's  place of work, Bose, with videos.
And, there is more to Rhode Island than Block Island: A list of charming towns.

with feeling—and attitude

Rosio at her place of work

The moto

She leaves her house in the campo before light in the winter—when the temps are in the 30s and 40s—and rides her battered moto to my mother's house in the town of San Miguel de Allende. There she massages, medicates, cooks, cleans, shops, washes, feeds the dog, pays bills, encourages and generally keeps spirits bright with a lot of love.
I say she's superwoman.
She says she's "macha."

family resemblance?

Cl-Ben, 2015, 2016

Chr-Erin, 2016, 2015

The models, 2016, 2010

I was breezing through Facebook when I saw a picture of my musician brother (who it so happens has a new website). Hmm, I thought.
Then my designer sister (who of course also has a website) had a new portrait made (by my photographer son-in-law, who also has a website). And I looked at a recent picture of my wood sculptor brother (who really needs a website). And I thought hmmm. . .
So then I went scurrying through the files for the progenitors.

matt attack! tonight!

Tonight (TUESDAY, 2/2) at 9pm, NBC, Ali's husband Matt plays a bad guy on Chicago Med.
In other news, Pal Denise Vaughn reports on a newly discovered cave—the 7000-somethingth—in Missouri in the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
And speaking of Missouri, another one of my friends is renting an Ozarks cabin not far from me—unless you want to stay with me!
Another in the "Conflict" TV series that Donna Ferrato was in is the fascinating (to me) story of a war correspondent who walked away. And speaking of Donna, she won yet another award, the NPAA's Humanitarian Award.
And speaking of videos, here is one Sam sent in about The Last Seltzermen.
And speaking of Sam, Happy Birthday!
And speaking of Birthday, Happy Birthday Flip!
And speaking of February 2, Happy Groundhog Day!
Did you want a groundhog birthday cake? Here ya go!

Cake neither fabricated nor photographed by me.

playing in the light

"Hello? It's me. I am here with your stove delivery."

 Otra Rubia swept me away to the Bronx this weekend, where she made lentil soup on a stove that was soon to be removed. The soup had to go out to the  balcony, where it had a good view of the sunset over Yankee Stadium as it cooled. And it was safe there from the Depredations of Devil Cat, who likes all human food better than anything dreamt of by Meow Mix. The new stove was delivered and admired, and unheated snacks were consumed (cat likes cheese) and then we all went out to dinner. Well, not Kitty.

The best chachka. Um, Chatchka in Francais?