Blog No. 305: Advice from Kurt Vonnegut, Boro: The Art of Japanese Mending, Famous Chaiwalla Tomato Pie

October 23, 2026

Good Advice from Kurt Vonnegut
(1922-2007)

I have always admired Kurt Vonnegut, the Americann author of many science fictiony, somewhat dark, somewhat humorous brilliant books including Slaughterhouse 5 and The Piano Player, to name a few. Vonnegut was also one of my dad's favorites.

I might have included this letter in a previous blog but I think it is worthy to repeat again--it is great advice!

In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write to a famous author and ask for advice. Kurt Vonnegut was the only one to respond--and his response is magnificent:

Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood...
I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to write: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash receptacals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!

--Kurt Vonnegut

And while we are on the subject of creativity:

The great artist Michelangelo knew that he was a channel for creativity. His incredible sculptures came through him, not from him. Often when we get blocked creatively, we feel like our well has run dry. We feel out of ideas, energy and talent. The Artist’s Way reminds us that we just need to take care of the quantity of creative work and the universe will take care of the quality. Our job as creatives is to show up at the page. We put pen to paper or the first brushstroke on the canvas. Then we need to be open to an inspiration beyond ourselves.

Boro: The Art of Japanese Mending

  
Boro is a Japanese technique for mending clothing through patching and layering, thus repairing an article of clothing and in the end, making it more beautiful than before. I love the simplicity of the visible stitching and someone once told me that if you are going to do all that work, why hide it?!.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to stitch in the Japanese method.

Famous Tomato Pie from Chaiwalla Tea House

Tomato Pie originally served at Chaiwalla Tea House in Salisbury, Connecticut.

  
Below is one of my beloved recipes from Chaiwalla Tea House in Salisbury, CT.,   which sadly closed its doors many moons ago (2018).  I have such fond memories of the place and especially this Tomato Pie!  My mouth is watering even today as I think of it. 

 It is my pleasure to share it with you here.
 
CHAIWALLA TOMATO PIE RECIPE

CRUST
INGREDIENTS

*2 cup flour

*1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

*4 teaspoons baking powder

*3/4 cup milk (adjust for biscuit-dough consistency)

(If you enjoy making your own crust, by all means, follow the recipe! If you're short on time, like me, you can also use refrigerated pre-made crusts (like Pillsbury) from the store.  

Mix in food processor or by hand. Divide in half, for bottom and top crusts.

FILLING

*2 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled and sliced (or two 28 oz cans plum tomatoes)

*Chopped basil, chives, or scallions

*1 1/2 c sharp cheddar

*1/3 c mayonnaise

*2 T lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Roll bottom crust on floured surface and line 9" pie plate.

Fill crust with thinly sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with chopped herbs. 
Cover with 1 cup grated cheddar. 
Mix mayonnaise with lemon juice and drizzle over cheese. 
Cover with remaining with 1/2 cup cheddar.

Roll out remaining crust. 
Cover pie and pinch the edges to seal. Cut steam vents.

Bake at 400 deg. for about 25 minutes. 
If not serving directly from the oven, re-heat before serving to melt the cheese.
￼

Painting of the Week

Detail of Green Garden, Purple Heart. mixed media on canvas. 50” x 80”. $8500

Charity of the Week:

Please consider donating to Troy Jackson’s campaign in order to defeat Susan Collins. We need the help—money-wise, phone banking, canvassing, etc.

About The Author
New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Source: old-age-young-at-heart-chorus-mark-nepo-no...

Blog No. 304: Amy Goodman Interview with Alex Gibney on the documentary Musk, Samhain Harvest Festival, e.e cummings

October 17, 2026

Alex Gibney on Democracy Now

American broadcast journalist and investigative reporter Amy Goodman has spent a lifetime in the trenches as a truthsayer, fighting for human rights and democracy. She is and has been one of my heroes for many years now. Her daily, global, independent news hour Democracy Now is one of the leading U.S.-based independent daily news broadcasts in the world where she covers important humanitarian centered stories that regular media ignores and often doesn't dare touch.

I was pleased to see this interview she conducted the other day with independent documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney on his gutsy, comprehensive, intelligent and chilling look at billionaire Elon Musk who right now is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into our midterm elections.

I am proud to count Alex and his wife Annie as friends and some of the cool people I have met up here in Maine and like Amy Goodman, people who have been on the side of good their whole lives. The documentary MUSK is such an important film right now, a blockbuster revealing astonishing facts about one of the most powerful (and crazy) men in the world--not to be missed.

MUSK has been making the film festival circuit for the past month or so, to serious acclaim, and I am sure it will defintely be an Oscar contender. It is being widely released to the public this weekend. Ignore the fact that it is long--I saw it at the Camden International Film Festival and I didn't blink the whole almost four hours (don't worry, there is an internmission). It is totally riveting, replete with astonishing facts and interviews of people close to him, including two of his ex-wives Justine and Ashley St. Clair, who admitted being offered $40 million dollars and $100,000/month to keep her mouth shut (she refused). The documentary, whose material has been very carefully fact-checked, reveals and concludes that Elon is a great salesmanis . For starters, he was not the founder of Tesla--he bought the title when he paid off the real inventor.

Until you make it to the movie theatre or wait a bit more for it to be released on HBO Max and Apple TV, " Amy Goodman's interview with Alex Gibney is a great and comprehensive primer for the film, as is this must see interview conducted by journalist Kara Swisher with Gibney and ex-wife Justine Musk. I highly recommend both of these.

The film is the talk of the town worldwide and there are so many reviews and interviews about it--I encourage you to google them and explore...all full of information we need to know...

Samhain Harvest Festival, Oct. 31

My friend Judy generously sends a group of us words of wisdom every month and this is the most recent one. It is about a Celtic harvest festival called Samhain which is celebrated the evening of October 31st into November 1. I share a description of it here in full:

SANHAIN (pronouned Saw-ween) is an ancient Celtic cross quarter festival meaning "summer's end." Samhain marks the end o0f the harvest season and the transition into the darker, colder half of the year Beliefs across the Celtic cultures suggest that the veil between the physical world and the spirit realm is at its thinnest during Samhain, allowing the living to honor and communicate with ancestors and departed loved ones.

This holiday is the precursor to current day Halloween, given its focus on the departed, and on witches, crones and masks. Throughout the ages, older women have been depicted as witches who are to be feared and vanquished, their wisdom and power threatening to the societies they inhabited. Known as the "Witchs New fear, "Samhain is truly about reclaiming the feminine power and wisdom that is indisputable (yet has always been disputed), and about gratitude for the blessings of our past and for those who came before us. Samhain has always been intended as a sacred opportunity to honor those we have loved and to remember their presence in our lives, in the past, and also in a quiet moment of peace and reflection, in our hearts.

Like so many of the Druid wheel celebrations, samhain involves flames in the form of candles or bonfires. Fire, of course, has always been central to survival, providing warmth, protection from wild animals, and the cooking of meat as sustenance. Fire gave people hope that the darkness surrounding them would eventually yield to the coming light of spring, helping them survive the oncoming winter and likely hunger or death.

Back then, as today, people celebrate Samhain in a number of warming ways. Again, with its emphasis on those ancestors who made it possible for us to be alive, we set up a home altar with their photos or trinkets, and we gather autumn leaves, apples, and candles. Other rituals include personal or professional items that must be 'harvested' and let go of before the winter stillness. To this day, many even hold a 'dumb supper,' a ceremonial meal eaten in complete silence to honor the dead. Celebrants set an empty chair or place setting for deceased loved ones and eat without speaking to let the living commune with the spirit world. Some even eat the meal backwards, starting with dessert or walking backward to the table, in an effort to open the space for the supernatural to come forth. In early Applachia, women often hosted dumb suppers to divine the spirit of a future husband.""

Poem by e.e. cummings

Edward Estlin Cummings, or e.e. cummings, 1894-1962

  
This is one of my daughter Morgan's and my favorite poems.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

By  E. E. CUMMINGS

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet) i want

no worldn(for beautiful you are my world,mmy true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Photo of the Week

Photo taken by me at the Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California of the installation by light and space artist
Robert Irwin (1928–2023)

Charity of the Week:

Source: old-age-young-at-heart-chorus-mark-nepo-no...

Blog No. 303: Young at Heart Chorus Concert, Shirley MacLaine, Reflections on Turning 70

October 9, 2026

Young at Heart Chorus

There is a choir from Northampton, Mass. where the sole requirement is a love of music and that you are at least 70+ years old to participate. Young at Heart Chorus has been around for a number of years and I have followed them, been to a few of their concerts, and written about them in previous blog posts. I really love their spirit and I am not alone: documentary filmmaker Stephen Walker based a whole wonderful film on these energetic senior citizens singing rock and roll and punk rock--I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. It is a shot of pure joy...

This past week Young at Heart performed again in a new concert--the occasion being a celebration and welcome to the new branch of Young at Heart Chorus in New York City. Check it out--they perform such songs as Summer in the City, Carry On, I Want to be Sedated to name a few.

Shirley MacLaine

A lot of people have considered Shirley MacClaine a kook. One of her books is even called Out on a Limb, which is a title she gave autobiography. But I think time has proven that she is not so out there and more and more people are coming around to her ideas about the soul, reincarnation, past lives, etc.. Here is a shortened version of a conversation she had with Oprah Winfrey. I found her refreshing--she has a great sense of humor and seems completely comfortable in her own skin.

One thing she says she is sure about is that we are not alone in this universe and that people who are in her life now were also in it in past lives. She has learned the most about herself, she remarks, by the people that have hurt her the most. When Oprah asked her if she was proud of being a trailblazer, she hesitated. After being prodded, she finally said: “I am pleased with the fact that I saw a trail and I walked down it and didn’t know what I was going to find.”

On Turning 70

On the occasion of my 70th birthday this weekend, I include here an opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times in 2019 entitled The Joy of Being a Woman in her 70s by Clinical Psychologist and author Mary Pipher.

Although it specifies women, I think a lot of it applies to many of us as we age. It also could be good for the I young--"if I only knew then what I know now!"

THE JOY OF BEING A WOMAN IN HER 70s
by Mary Pipher
Originally printed in the New York Times

"When I told my friends I was writing a book on older women like us, they immediately protested, “I am not old.” What they meant was that they didn’t act or feel like the cultural stereotypes of women their age. Old meant bossy, useless, unhappy and in the way. Our country’s ideas about old women are so toxic that almost no one, no matter her age, will admit she is old. In America, ageism is a bigger problem for women than aging. Our bodies and our sexuality are devalued, we are denigrated by mother-in-law jokes, and we’re rendered invisible in the media. Yet, most of the women I know describe themselves as being in a vibrant and happy life stage. We are resilient and know how to thrive in the margins. Our happiness comes from self-knowledge, emotional intelligence and empathy for others. Most of us don’t miss the male gaze. It came with catcalls, harassment and unwanted attention. Instead, we feel free from the tyranny of worrying about our looks. For the first time since we were 10, we can feel relaxed about our appearance. We can wear yoga tights instead of nylons and bluejeans instead of business suits.

Yet, in this developmental stage, we are confronted by great challenges. We are unlikely to escape great sorrow for long. We all suffer, but not all of us grow. Those of us who grow do so by developing our moral imaginations and expanding our carrying capacities for pain and bliss. In fact, this pendulum between joy and despair is what makes old age catalytic for spiritual and emotional growth.

By our 70s, we’ve had decades to develop resilience. Many of us have learned that happiness is a skill and a choice. We don’t need to look at our horoscopes to know how our day will go. We know how to create a good day.

We have learned to look every day for humor, love and beauty. We’ve acquired an aptitude for appreciating life. Gratitude is not a virtue but a survival skill, and our capacity for it grows with our suffering. That is why it is the least privileged, not the most, who excel in appreciating the smallest of offerings.

Many women flourish as we learn how to make everything workable. Yes, everything. As we walk out of a friend’s funeral, we can smell wood smoke in the air and taste snowflakes on our tongues.

Our happiness is built by attitude and intention. Attitude is not everything, but it’s almost everything. I visited the jazz great Jane Jarvis when she was old, crippled and living in a tiny apartment with a window facing a brick wall. I asked if she was happy and she replied, “I have everything I need to be happy right between my ears.”

We may not have control, but we have choices. With intention and focused attention, we can always find a forward path. We discover what we are looking for. If we look for evidence of love in the universe, we will find it. If we seek beauty, it will spill into our lives any moment we wish. If we search for events to appreciate, we discover them to be abundant.

There is an amazing calculus in old age. As much is taken away, we find more to love and appreciate. We experience bliss on a regular basis. As one friend said: “When I was young I needed sexual ecstasy or a hike to the top of a mountain to experience bliss. Now I can feel it when I look at a caterpillar on my garden path.”

Older women have learned the importance of reasonable expectations. We know that all our desires will not be fulfilled, that the world isn’t organized around pleasing us and that others, especially our children, are not waiting for our opinions and judgments. We know that the joys and sorrows of life are as mixed together as salt and water in the sea. We don’t expect perfection or even relief from suffering. A good book, a piece of homemade pie or a call from a friend can make us happy. As my aunt Grace, who lived in the Ozarks, put it, “I get what I want, but I know what to want.”

We can be kinder to ourselves as well as more honest and authentic. Our people-pleasing selves soften their voices and our true selves speak more loudly and more often. We don’t need to pretend to ourselves and others that we don’t have needs. We can say no to anything we don’t want to do. We can listen to our hearts and act in our own best interest. We are less angst-filled and more content, less driven and more able to live in the moment with all its lovely possibilities.

Many of us have a shelterbelt of good friends and long-term partners. There is a sweetness to 50-year-old friendships and marriages that can’t be described in language. We know each other’s vulnerabilities, flaws and gifts; we’ve had our battles royal and yet are grateful to be together. A word or a look can signal so much meaning. Lucky women are connected to a rich web of women friends. Those friends can be our emotional health insurance policies.

The only constant in our lives is change. But if we are growing in wisdom and empathy, we can take the long view. We’ve lived through seven decades of our country’s history, from Truman to Trump. I knew my great-grandmother, and if I live long enough, will meet my great-grandchildren. I will have known seven generations of family. I see where I belong in a long line of Scotch-Irish ancestors. I am alive today only because thousands of generations of resilient homo sapiens managed to procreate and raise their children. I come from, we all come from, resilient stock, or we wouldn’t be here.""

By the time we are 70, we have all had more tragedy and more bliss in our lives than we could have foreseen. If we are wise, we realize that we are but one drop in the great river we call life and that it has been a miracle and a privilege to be alive.

Mary Pipher is a clinical psychologist in Lincoln, Neb., and the author of the forthcoming “Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age.”

Me at 14. Photo by Stanford Smilow, my cool uncle (1929-2026).

Photo of the Week

Photo by my uncle, Photographer Stanford Smilow (1929-2026).

Charity of the Week:

Source: old-age-young-at-heart-chorus-mark-nepo-no...

Blog No. 302: Temple Food, On Hope, Heather Cox Richardson Talk October 2, 2026

October 3, 2026

Temple Food

The famous French chef of Le Bernadin, Eric Ripert, first met Jeong Kwan, the Buddhist nun, in her hermitage above the Baekyangsa temple in 2014, when he was in South Korea making an episode of Avec Eric, a food-travel show that ran for three seasons. Ripert, a Buddhist himself, had come to South Korea to learn about temple food. Kwan and Ripert cooked together, and he was immediately impressed with her and her amazing, simple plant based cooking and realized he had a lot to learn from her.

Ripert returned again to South Korea a couple years later with a film crew, culminating in a feature on Jeong Kwan on Chef’s Table (Netflix), my favorite cooking show of all time. Eater did a review of the episode.

Photo courtesy Nigel Parry and The Guardian

Ripert’s fascination with temple food was not short-lived. It has now manifested it in his latest cookbook entitled Mindful Cooking, the cuisine introduced to him by this South Korean nun. According to her, Temple food awakens the mind. It is connected to spiritual energy and parallels the Buddhist philosophy: be present, respect the ingredients and the planet, put good energy into the food, make people happy and be happy in the process. Can’t wait to have a look. In the meantime, here is a recipe from it that looks delicious.

SALAD PANCAKE Recipe from Eric Ripert

COURTESY Pete Wells and the New York Times

Ingredients: dipping sauce 1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Ingredients: pancakes

1 large head oak leaf lettuce

2 cups all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups water

4 tbsp perilla or sesame oil or canola or vegetable oil

MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE:

For the dippimg sauce: Combine first five ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Step 2
Slice the lettuce in half through the stem and wash well. Using a rolling pin or small pan, gently smash the stem end of the lettuce halves to flatten them. Set aside.

Step 3
Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Slowly add the water, mixing to form a thick batter (some lumps are OK). Gently dip one of the lettuce halves in the batter and massage to fully coat the leaves.

Step 4
Set a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the perilla oil* is shimmering, remove the lettuce from the batter, letting any excess drip back into the bowl. Add it to the pan and press down gently with a spatula to flatten the top, making it as thin as possible.

Step 5
Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, adjusting the heat if needed, until golden brown. Carefully flip the pancake and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the second lettuce half and the remaining batter and perilla oil.

Step 6
Slice the pancakes into sixths or eighths, depending on how many people you’re serving, and serve warm with the dipping sauce.

*note on perilla oil and substitutes: available in Korean markets—a neutral cooking oil like canola or vegetable can be substituted. To approximate the flavor of perilla oil, add 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to the pan along with the 2 tablespoons of neutral oil in Step 4.

Hope

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.
--Mahatma Gandhi

“The greatest danger to our planet is that we lose hope – especially if our youth loses hope. Because, if we have no hope, we give up and stop trying to do our bit to make a difference.”
--Jane Goodall

More Words of Wisdom from Heather Cox Richardson

I have featured Heather Cox Richardson many many times on this blog. She is such a voice of sanity right now that I want to make sure that her voice is broadcast far and wide. Here is some words of wisdom from her from Friday October 2nd. We are so lucky to have such a knowlegable inspiring person informing us on a daily basis.
Pleae consider sharing this post including her talk with your friends, especially those you know that are on the fence. And if you know anyone that might like to hear some testimonials from Maga people who have defected, direct them to this website:leavingmaga.org

Photo of the Week

Fall is arriving. Edgecomb, Maine, October 2, 2026

Charity of the Week:

Source: old-age-young-at-heart-chorus-mark-nepo-no...

Blog No. 301: Thich Nhat Hanh Meditation, Troy Jackson New York Magazine Article, Sweet Potato Recipe

September 26, 2026

Thich Nhat Hanh Meditation

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. It’s relatively new— I can fall asleep but wake up a lot during the night. I finally figured out that I think it is anxiety about the elections, the state of our country, our future, etc. I am not usually prone to anxiety but I guess there is a lot to worry about right now…My friend Annie suggested I listen to some of Thich Nhat Hanh’s meditations. He is one of her go to people in the world.

This first Heart meditation has the soothing quality of the ocean behind it. This second one is a rare guided metta meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh which was offered on 31st December 2009, as part of a special Dharma Talk for the New Year. It invites us to practise loving-kindness. According to the Buddhist tradition, Thay says, love should always be directed at ourselves first before we can offer it to someone else.

You can practise on your own by listening to Thay, or you can guide a friend by reading the text below:

May I be peaceful and light in my body and in my mind.

May I be safe and free from accidents.

May I be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind, fear and worries.

May I know how to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and compassion.

May I be able to recognise and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.

May I learn how to nourish myself with joy each day.

May I be able to live fresh, solid and free.

May I not fall into the state of indifference or be caught in

the extremes of attachment or aversion.

May all beings be peaceful and light in their body and in their mind.

May all beings be safe and free from accidents.

May all beings be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind, fear

and worries.

May all beings know how to look at themselves with the eyes of understanding and compassion.

May all beings be able to recognise and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in themselves.

May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day.

May all beings be able to live fresh, solid and free.

May all beings not fall into the state of indifference or be caught in the extremes of attachment or aversion.

INGREDIENTS

Yield:

4 servings

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

FOR THE PANCAKES

1 large head oak leaf lettuce
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups water
4 tablespoons perilla oil, divided (see Tip for substitute)

Ripert’s fascination with temple food was not short-lived. It has now manifested in his latest cookbook entitled Mindful Cooking, the cuisine introduced to him by this South Korean nun. According to her, Temple food awakens the mind. It is connected to spiritual energy and parallels the Buddhist philosophy: be present, respect the ingredients and the planet, put good energy into the food, make people happy and be happy in the process.

New York Magazine Article on
Troy Jackson
for U.S. Senate

Right now we are in the midst of election season so it is getting a little harder for me to avoid politics. I promise to go back after the midterms to more uplifting stories but in these times, I think being informed is so important…

Here is an article from New York Magazine about the senate candidate Troy Jackson, running for the U.S. Senate in the state of Maine against Susan Collins. It is a crucial race if we are to take back the Senate and we need all the help we can get. Troy Jackson started late after the Graham Platner fiasco. He is being handled by traditional democrats who are trying to run a “traditional democratic campaign in Maine.” It is simply not working as Mainers do not go for the raise money at all costs. They want to see the real candidate being out there and being real. Rebecca Traister captured this in her New York Magazine article reprinted here. For anyone interested in the importance of taking over the senate, this is an important read. And again, we could use your support in any way you can—contributions, phone banking, in person canvassing, letter writing… Thank you!

Sweet Potato Recipe

Always looking for some new (healthy) recipes and this one by Matthew Francis looks particularly interesting to me. I heard that Sweet potatoes are super healthy but had no idea why. It turns out they are loaded with beta-carotene, an antioxidant that turns into vitamin A in your body, protecting vision and healthy eye tissue. Here is a video courtesy Marc Francis walking you through the recipe.

Photo of the Week

Climate Week Kick-off Breakfast in my studio in New York on Sept. 22nd, sponsored by Nia Impact Capital, a ***women led impact investing firm***, investing with purpose at the intersection of environmental sustainability and social justice. Founded by Kristin Hull.

Charities of the Week:

Source: old-age-young-at-heart-chorus-mark-nepo-no...

Blog No. 300: Guided: The Secret Path to an Illuminated Life (out in paperback), 3 U.S. Senate Candidates, Songs to Energize Get Out the Vote

September 19, 2026

Guided Out In Paperback

Guided: The Secret Path to an Illuminated Life is coming out very soon in Paperback! I highly recommend it! I had the good fortune of being included in the book along with a lot of other fascinating stories and people. I can’t say enough about the author Laura Lynne Jackson, She is an amazing person and defintely the real thing!

“In Chapter 17 Laura Lynne Jackson describes the life and work of artist Pam Smilow, whose creativity and spiritual awareness are deeply connected. Pam believes that art can be a way of receiving inspiration from beyond ourselves and that creative work can connect us to something larger than our everyday lives. Her artistic partnership with fellow artist and husband Gert Mathiesen became an important example of this connection. Although they had very different backgrounds and styles, they developed a wonderful marriage and an unusual collaborative process in which they created art together, sometimes without planning or even speaking. Their work flowed naturally, with each artist responding to what the other had created.

The chapter also explores Pam's experiences with loss and her belief that loved ones who have died can continue to influence and inspire us. After Gert's death, Pam felt his presence strongly and eventually began creating art again, often feeling as though their creative collaboration was continuing in a different form. Through her experiences, Pam came to understand that creativity does not always require complete control or conscious planning. Instead, she encourages people to remain open, trust their intuition, and allow ideas and inspiration to emerge naturally.

A central message of the chapter is that love and connection do not necessarily end with death. Jackson suggests that we can remain connected to those we love through memories, signs, creativity, intuition, and the energy of love itself. Pam's paintings and her experiences with Gert illustrate how relationships can continue to evolve even after someone has physically passed away. The chapter encourages us to be observant and open to the meaningful connections, coincidences, and inspirations that may appear in our lives.

Ultimately, the chapter “Manifesting Those We Love” is about the enduring power of love, creativity, and connection. It reminds us that the people we love can continue to shape us, inspire us, and remain part of our lives in unexpected ways. By staying open to possibility and trusting our intuition, we may discover that love can transcend physical separation and continue to guide us throughout our lives.”

Ossoff, Talarico, Nixon
for U.S. Senate

I am a big fan of Jon Ossoff--so much so that I made a campaign lawn sign for him when he ran for the Senate the last time around. Here he is energizing the crowd with a great speech in Athens, Georgia.

Another candidate I am excited about is James Talarico. He is running for U.S. Senate against Ken Paxton in Texas. Listen to his dynamic speech in front of students at Baylor University in Waco, Texas and his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel.

Coming from behind, in a monumental upset victory, comes Angie Nixon of Florida, also running for U.S. Senate. Hear her amazing victory speech from a few weeks ago.

This is the way to do it!

Hoping to see Troy Jackson, Maine's senate candidate against Susan Collins, out doing the same thing. So far, we haven't seen much of him and rumors are that he is being mismanaged by national Democratic outsiders who have not a clue about the unique character of Maine voters...

James Talerico for U.S. Senate in the State of Texas

Angie Nixon for the U.S. Senate in the state of Florida

Songs to Energize Us Politically

Music plays an enormous role in uniting and uplifting us, energizing people to be up for the fight.

Here are some of those songs

Get Up, Stand Up

Change is Gonna Come

"We Shall Not Be Moved

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Which Side Are You On

Woke Up This Morning

Eve of Destruction

And you might want to check out Jesse Welles, who is a prolific political songwriter on his youtube account.

Photo of the Week

Charities of the Week:

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Blog No. 299: MD Motivator Revisited, Mon Rovîa on NPR's Tiny Desk, Poet John Roede

September 12, 2026

MD Motivator Revisited

  
I can't get enough of this guy, the MD Motivator who has devoted his llife to celebrating and rewarding kindness.  Hard to believe he is for real but he is!  I want to be him!

His real name is Zachery Dereniowski, he is Canadian (of course) and he gets his money from online crowdfunding, a registered nonprofit, and corporate sponsorships.  He started off small--on tiktok posting daily videos where he got people to donate small sums of money which he immediately gave away to people in need.  He slowly built up, now teaming up with such corporations as Expedia, Air Canada and Hyundai and musicians including Billie Eilish and Chris Brown to mention a few.  

If ever anyone deserved to go viral, he is it.  With 9.7 million followers on instagram and 28 million on tiktok, he has made human decency and kindness cool again.  Let's hope his mission of spreading love and wealth is contagious...

Mon Rovîa on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts

I've written about Mon Rovîa before. Such a seemingly gentle, sweet soul, singing about his life's journey across continents--how as a young boy born in Monrovia, Liberia he ended up adopted by an American family while his sister and brother were left behind in Africa. I came across his gentle voice first on instagram and immediately felt drawn to the honesty and innocence of his voice, which has been described as a balm--soft, clear, and soothing.br>
Obviously I wasn't the only one who noticed his talent. This past week he was invited on the Tiny Desk Concert series on NPR and is in the middle of an extensive tour across the United States and Europe. To see the schedule and purchase tickets, click here.

John Roedel Poet and Comedian

John Roedel in his words: Poet. Writer. Comic. Storyteller. Terrible Dancer.

So much of my substack blog is random stumbling on something while looking for something else. This is the case of John Roedel. His poem below spoke to me and on digging deeper, I found a sensitive person in search of himself, unafraid to be honest and his authentic self. a transformation that took over time while raised as a devout Catholic living in the middle of cowboy country in Wyoming. The interview here reveals a person through a spiritual awakening--his questions and concerns are universal and relatable. If you care to delve deeper, his story is an interesting one and you can hear all about it in this interview.

  
    
My brain and
heart divorced

a decade ago

over who was
to blame about
how big of a mess
I have become

eventually
they couldn't be
in the same room
with each other

now my head and heart
share custody of me

I stay with my brain
during the week

and my heart gets me on weekends

they never speak to one another

--instead, they give me
the same note to pass
to each other every week

and their notes they
they sent to one another always
says the same thing:

"This is all your fault"

on Sundays
my heart complains about how my
head has let me down
in the past

and on Wednesday
my head lists all
of the times my
heart has screwed
things up for me
in the future

they blame each
other for the
state of my life

there's been a lot
of yelling--and crying

so,
     lately, I've been
spending a lot of
tie with my gut

who serves as my
unofficial therapist

most nights, I sneak out of the
windown in my ribcage

and slide down my spine
and collapse on my 
gut's plush leather chairthat's always open for me

--and I just sit sit sit sit
until the sun comes up

last evening,
my gut asked me
if I was having a hard
time being caught
between my heart
and my head

I nodded

I said I didn't know
if I could live with
either of them anymore

"my heart is always sad about
something that happened yesterday
while my head is always worried
about something that may happen tomorrow"
I lamented

my gut squeezed my hand

"I just can't live with
my mistakes of the past
or my anxiety about the future,"I signed

my gut smiled and said:

"in that case,
you should
go stay with your
lungs for a while,"

I was confused
--the look on my face gave it away

"if you are exhausted about
your heart's obsession with
the fixed past and your mind's focus
on the uncertain future

your lungs are the perfect place for you

there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either

there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment

there is only breath

and in that breath
you can rest while your
heart and head work
their relationship out."

this morning
whle my brain
was busy reading
tea leaves

and while my heart was staring at old photographs

I packed a little
bag and walked
to the door of
my lungs

before I could even knock

she opened the door
with a smile and as
a gust of air embraced me
she said

"what took you so long?"
  
  

Photo of the Week

Flower Power Series I - VI, mixed media on paper, 30” x 22” $8500

Charities of the Week:

Book of the Week

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