Alexis Rankin Popik's Blog, page 15

SORRY I’M SORRY

Have you noticed how often women say “I’m sorry?”  There are lots of studies that prove they do and multiple opinions as to why women do it. My sister Chris and I noticed we apologize so much, we turned it into a … Continue reading →

HOUSES AND OSPREYS

Returning to the Marion house is always a pleasure. I have loved this place for more than a decade, painting each room, moving furniture around, planting a garden, bringing to it bits and pieces of things that appeal to me. Walking … Continue reading →

REMEMBERING AMY

My friend Amy Robinson died last month and yesterday I attended her memorial service with a jam-packed gathering of her friends.  I write “friends” rather than “those whose lives she touched” because it seems as if everyone there considered themselves to … Continue reading →

ALASKA! Part 2

Alaska is too beautiful to be captured in photos, but I’m trying. Last week I posted a few pictures from a recent trip. Here are some more, all but two concerned with Humpback Whale Bubble Netting. The BBC has an … Continue reading →

ALASKA!

Last week Bill and I joined six strangers and the crew of the Northern Song for a week-long cruise of the Frederick Sound and its environs in Southeast Alaska. We left from Petersburg, a bustling small town that looks like … Continue reading →

I LOVE ADS

 I spend too much time thinking about TV advertising because there is so much of it, and most of it is bad.  For example, Choice Hotels ads feature a pompous guy who promotes the slogan, “Badda Book, Badda Boom.”  That irritating phrase … Continue reading →

PROSE ENVY

Envy, the green-eyed monster and one of the Seven Deadly Sins, is not one of my weaknesses…until I come across a bit of prose so fantastic that I wonder why I bother even trying.  [Along these lines, the writer Mark Salzman … Continue reading →

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS & GRAMMAR QUEENS

Thirteen years of Catholic schools may not have done all my parents hoped, but they sure did turn me into a Grammar Queen.  No, there weren’t any Grammar Kings in my school.  The boys didn’t catch up until later when, in real … Continue reading →

Superbloom, Kondo-ing and Recycling: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The past week was an interesting mix of The Good (Superbloom), The Bad (Kondo-ing  by clearing out more accumulated STUFF) and The Ugly (learning that China is no longer taking any U.S. trash). THE GOOD California’s unusual weather has yielded a … Continue reading →

WHEN LOVE DIES

Bibi and Poldi have split up after more than 90 years of “marriage.” The sad news of the breakup of two Galapagos Tortoises, reported here, made my sister Liz and me howl with laughter. What happens when love dies?   If you’re … Continue reading →