Diamond-Cut Life » work

Still In Love With My Dumb Phone

Alison — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:45:54 +0000

Short post this weekend due to preparing for our open-house party tomorrow . . . plus I’m working to finish my novel, Revelle (you can read the opening chapter here). I’m not a Luddite. I use technology constantly and gratefully, Diamond-Cut Life being a prime example (thank you, internet, for more than 95,000 hits to date). But [...]Similar Posts:

Have Our Creature-Paths Crossed?

Alison — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 15:02:35 +0000

That is what writer Lidia Yuknavitch spontaneously asked me when we met at the Willamette Writers Conference earlier this month. Her face was warm and radiant and she had long, wavy blond hair. I replied I didn’t think our creature-paths had yet crossed, but I so much liked her way of expressing the uncanny sense [...]Similar Posts:

What About Overemployment?

Alison — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:29:51 +0000

I have a different take on our troubled economy than most. On one level it’s highly unfortunate that unemployment is going to remain high under the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to keep short-term interest rates near zero. In a country that calls itself developed, virtually everyone who needs or wants to work should be working, [...]Similar Posts:

The Connoisseur of Commuting Returns To Carpooling

Alison — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:59:20 +0000

What are the best and worst commutes you’ve ever had? I’ve noticed that while pretty much everyone prefers work (or school) they can feel passionate about*, our daily commutes can also be a make or break in our quality of life. My friend Christina got hundreds of hits earlier this month when she guest-posted about [...]Similar Posts:

Christina’s Joy Riding

Alison — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:55:23 +0000

This is a guest post from my friend Christina, who has a Master’s degree in nursing from Yale and the most irrepressible spirit I’ve met here in my Mt. Tabor neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. In May I put down the gauntlet to my boss. Bike to work one day a week starting the first week [...]Similar Posts:

Who You Calling A Hippie?

Alison — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:45:34 +0000

Today’s post is on the lighter side. A reader in Arizona has suggested that I am a hippie. Or, to be more specific, he wrote I am “definitely much more of a hippie” than he himself is. Hmm.

Catalina State Park, Tucson, AZ

[/caption] His tone was friendly enough, but I’ve been pondering this hippie [...]Similar Posts:

The Best Advice For College Graduates

Alison — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:34:15 +0000

What is the most meaningful work you have ever done? How happy did it make you — both then, and now, thinking back on it? Was it the work you had originally planned on doing? New York Times writer David Brooks points out in his excellent editorial today that some bad advice is being given to [...]Similar Posts:

The Joy Of Building Instead Of Destroying

Alison — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:54:57 +0000

While the news is filled with the destructive war in Libya, a highly constructive event just occurred in Ethiopia. A Habitat For Humanity trip led by my friend Colleen Kaleda had 13 volunteers from first-world countries working side by side with the residents of a small village in Ethiopia to build six simple, sturdy homes. [...]Similar Posts:

The Holy Grail of the Diamond-Cut Life

Alison — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:13:44 +0000

I had a marguerita last night with my fish tacos at the Hawthorne Fish House. I tossed the drink down fast, in the tiny wedge of time available to me between fighting the traffic home from a meeting in Salem (I won an award — happy surprise!) , and the start of the writing critique [...]Similar Posts:

Landing On Our Feet: What Does It Take?

Alison — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:21:10 +0000

How versatile and resilient are you? What would you do if, like Joe Logan here in Portland, and for that matter, President Mubarrak in Egypt, your world changed, and your livelihood disappeared? Would you resist endlessly, hanging on irrationally like Mubarrak is doing to his now discredited leadership, creating reverberations of suffering and danger for his [...]Similar Posts: