What Did You Decide About the Pie Stand?
A few weeks ago, I posted a couple of polls on my Facebook business page, The World Needs More Pie, about reprising my Pitchfork Pie Stand. Bring it back for the summer at the American Gothic House, or rent a retail space within walking distance of the house on Eldon, Iowa’s main street? I stirred […]
The Book That Doesn’t Want to Be Born…Yet
The photo to the left (it’s a Bitmoji) is me. It’s me and it sums up everything I am feeling right now about writing my American Gothic House memoir. I am trying to get my story down — my whole story — about my four years of misadventures living in a rural Iowa tourist attraction. […]
Seven Years
“Seven Years in Tibet,” “The Seven Year Itch,” seven chakras, the seven-year Shemitah cycle, there is a lot tied to this particular number of years. Today marks the seventh anniversary of Marcus’s death. That day. That phone call. That searing pain of a broken heart so shattered I wanted to crawl out of my skin. […]
Made it to Iowa…Only to Face Forgotten Perils
We made it to Iowa. We may have prevailed over all those near disasters getting from LA to here, but even after only six months away, I had forgotten how perilous living in Iowa can be! It’s the little things that can kill you. I arrived to a home-cooked meal of Ham Balls. I wrote about […]
No More Excuses: Make Your Own D*amn Movie
I have been resistant to learning about video editing for a long time, always making the excuse that I was a writer not a filmmaker. But I am prying my eyelids open to view a whole new world of possibilities just by acquiring a few video editing skills. There have been too many signs to […]
American Gothic House: It Was a Magical Four Years
(Scroll down for pictures of the interior of the house.) After four magical years, I have moved out of the American Gothic House. When asked why, the easiest answer to give is that one can only live in a tourist attraction for so long. My friends and Facebook fans (follow me here) have responded that […]
A Letter to my Friend Sue McGuiness Wall (1962 – 2012)
Sue and her daughters with their piping hot apple pies.American Gothic House, August, 11, 2011 Dear Sue, I just got back from your funeral. It was a full house at the Catholic church you attended. You were attending today alright. Just not in the way you would have liked. You would have approved of the […]
A Good Reason to Wear Orange
Jack & Daisy. “We’re dogs, not deer. Please don’t shoot us.” I used to live in Venice, California in a neighborhood referred to as “The Hood.” A transitional neighborhood, this is an area where young hipsters can afford to buy fixer-uppers, nudging gang members out of their dwellings, one half-a-million-dollar house at a time. Even […]
Iowa Caucus Mania
In spite of this brilliant parody by Mike Luckovich, I was surprised that none of the politicians showed up on my doorstep. They missed an ideal photo op! I maintain that pie is not about politics. “Pie is non-partisan,” I have been known to insist. “It is meant to be shared, to build community, and spread good […]
Grief: A Progress Report
Eldon, Iowa’s McHaffey Opera House Thrift Store transforms into a magical “Winter Wanderland” at Christmas —but what did they do with all of Marcus’ clothes? With the holidays here again (my, how fast a year goes by!) and H gone for good, I’ve been experiencing a collision of past and present. As I try to make sense […]