Austin, Texas, is quirky – in a good way. During a recent visit, every bridge, park and intersection I encountered in this Central Texas city made me smile. Read more.
DON'T MISS!
I've written hundreds and hundreds of posts over the years. To help you find your way to the best of the best, I've tagged my favorites "Don't Miss!" Scroll down here to find them.
Another way to locate Riffs on Life that you might enjoy is to click above on your favorite category – "My Ever-Changing Family," perhaps, or "Funny Button." You can also use the search box located way up top to hunt for stories by topic. There's fun reading at "garden," "aging," "kids" and, of course, "Jon."
Gary Kamiya — A Fun Guy Sings a Love Song to San Francisco
Due to a common writing misstep, Gary Kamiya, a highly experienced writer and editor, found himself with only six months to write a 385-page book. The San Francisco author and co-founder of Salon.com described his predicament recently to a gathering of writers at Book Passage, Marin county’s powerhouse independent bookstore. Read more.
The Ghost of 300 Million Drought-Killed Trees Hovers Over a Lake in Texas
Some temporary art installations – you’re glad they’re temporary. But there’s an installation in Austin, Texas, right now that deserves its full ten weeks of fame.
Xi’An to TX and Mao to LBJ — I’ve Been Traveling and I’m Back
China, Austin, a Religion Newswriters conference — I had a great, traveling September. It started with on my birthday on September 6, which lasted only a few hours because Jon and I were on a plane to Shanghai when somewhere over the Pacific we hit the International Date Line. Read more.
American Hispanics: They Like the Pope, but the Church — Not So Much
More news from the Religion Newswriters Association conference I attended in Austin – a Public Religion Research Institute survey of Hispanics in America turned up some surprises. For example, 69 percent of Hispanics in general have a favorable view of Pope Francis, but only 54 percent look favorably on the Catholic Church. Read more.
Who Is a Jew? The Pew Research Center Tackles the Question — And Gets Some Answers
Who is a Jew? Before it could undertake its 2013 survey of U.S. Jews, the Pew Research Center had to think hard about what makes you Jewish in twenty-first-century America. It turns out that believing in God is not essential to Jewishness, and neither is being married to a Jewish spouse. Having a sense of humor helps a lot, however . . . Read more.
The Lost Poems of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft — A Native Michigan Voice Rediscovered
In the process of moving their collection, the librarians at the Illinois State Historical Library came across some boxes of old documents. One of them contained a lost cache of writings by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, a little known Ojibwe poet from Michigan. Read more.