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My latest column is ready to read at Luna Station Quarterly.

Toys are important to a child but too many of them can be a handicap. A child who has a chest full of ready-made playthings often becomes indifferent to them. Eventually none amuse or please and the toy-owner becomes restless, dissatisfied, and frequently difficult to live with. Such a child urgently needs a wholesome release … Continue reading Making+Doing=Being

I’m not too old to be deeply moved by Sia’s “Chandelier.” It makes me think of someone I once knew well and lost, for various reasons, one of them being her lifestyle choices. She died before she could break free. Kristen Wiig and Maddie Ziegler were outstanding in their Grammy performance piece of this song. … Continue reading “Chandelier”

ADDitude Magazine provides “strategies and support for ADHD and LD.” They reprinted my Huffington Post essay about my daughter’s struggle with Tourette Syndrome. The magazine is a wonderful resource, and I hope you’ll pass it along to anyone you know who could benefit from it. Thank you! Move Therapy: How Frozen Gave My Daughter Hope

“The individual fairy tale is not itself a myth, but it presupposes a mythic framework of surprise, dependence or vulnerability, the balancing of anxiety with expectation: a thumbnail sketch of human experience in a bewildering natural and emotional environment.” (“why we need fairy tales now more than ever” by Rowan Williams, New Statesman, December 22, […]

  Click on the image below to read Mallory Ortberg’s adroit piece.

Image by doodlemachine/iStockphoto What do Robin Hood, Red Riding Hood, Hansel & Gretel, The Wind in the Willows and countless other novels, legends, fairy tales, fables and myths have in common? They have woods, of course–deep, dark, primeval, archetypal woods. It’s where the heart and soul of the story reside, and, not coincidentally, it’s where our hearts […]

The second instalment of my fairy tale  column has just been posted at Luna Station Quarterly. I hope you’ll enjoy “Under My Bark.”

I’m very proud to announce the first instalment of my new column at Luna Station Quarterly. The column title is “What’s in a Fairy Tale.” My first essay is “Dark Side of the Fruit,” which takes a closer look at the evil queen’s poisoned apple. LSQ has a brand new format. I hope you’ll stop by […]

The sentimentalization of bears began with “Teddy’s Bear,” that cute and cuddly version of the powerful predator that was first manufactured following President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a malnourished and frightened she-bear who had been tied to a tree for him to “hunt” at his leisure. It’s a fascinating story, one that I […]

Some Friday Afternoon Led (stats) for Your Head...

File this under apropos of nothing/just for fun, but I felt the need to share my IT professional brother's latest word research here on my CWIM blog.

My brother and my classic-rock-digging teenage niece were listening to Led Zeppelin in the car, he tells me, and they had their usual discussion about how a rock song can't be a true rock song without the word babe or baby in it, or a reference to a female. "So," says my bro, "I decided to find a way to count the frequency of each word in all Led Zep songs. I included the titles of the song in my search, and used a lyrics list compiled by an obsessed fan who painstakingly documented what Robert Plant actually sung in their songs."

Here are my brother's Led Zeppelin word counts. Should I set him to work on the Judy Blume catalog? On what three occasions does Plant sing "lollipop"? And why isn't Houses of the Holy on my iPod?

Click here for the online word frequency counter my brother used. Might be fun to apply to your WIP!

821 the
695 i
673 ah
632 you
603 oh
548 a
491 my
441 yeah
399 to
384 ooh
360 and
332 baby
313 me
291 it
234 love
231 of
202 know
193 on
193 la
189 your
181 all
177 in
166 that
161 now
155 i'm
148 it's
144 is
138 no
138 hey
129 gonna
128 so
128 do
123 ahh
119 down
111 ya
109 for
108 don't
107 whoa
104 be
103 when
98 time
94 way
93 just
90 got
89 but
88 go
87 come
82 babe
80 well
73 she
73 from
72 with
72 what
72 we
69 one
69 i've
69 good
68 woman
68 hoo
68 been
65 let
65 keep
65 can
64 if
64 have
62 tell
60 see
58 how
57 ain't
56 they
56 take
56 little
55 will
55 light
54 that's
54 her
54 gotta
53 feel
53 day
53 can't
53 back
52 said
52 bring
52 alright
51 wanna
50 away
49 night
49 home
49 get
48 really
46 mama
46 ha
45 woo
44 uh
44 as
43 was
43 never
43 are
42 she's
42 right
42 like
42 give
41 hear
40