This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Thousands of cherry trees blossom every spring in Washington DC, a tradition spanning 105 years. At the same time, brilliant light sculptures and art installations glow along the port promenade in Baltimore. Two festivals I’d never experienced drew me away from my work. Which festival first? I … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’m the last member of Murder is Everywhere to write about the Left Coast Crime convention on the Island of Oahu. Jeffrey shared the people part of the convention and the contrasts between busy Oahu and quiet Kauai. Susan got up insanely early to photograph a sunrise … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. It had been a challenging week. The shooting of two Indian professionals in a Kansas bar was followed by the knifing of an Indian-American outside his home and the news that a number of South Asian business owners have had their shops torched. Whether or not the attackers … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. “Want to go for a walk?” My daughter surprised me with this request last week. During the Baltimore winter, nobody in the family walks together—even the dog doesn’t want to be out more than five minutes. While Maryland winters are not fierce like the seasons I spent in … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’ve had a little too much Thai, Indian and Vietnamese restaurant food lately. Even good food can become boring. Looking for another Asian taste, I decided to go after the obvious: Korean food. Fortunately, there are a lot of Korean immigrants around Baltimore. I’ve dined at places … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I regret to interrupt my regularly scheduled post—which was going to be food-related, alas!—because my life keeps getting interrupted. Just like my nation’s standard operating procedure. These days, my writing schedule seems divided between fiction and emails to senators, congressmen, and activist friends. And I’ve been on … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Last weekend I stood with forty women and a few good men in a training maneuver called a “Hassle Line.” We’d just enough time to share our names before we began playing our roles. My partner in the opposing line, a social work student named Faye, played … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Every December and January, calendars are on my agenda. I’m drawn to paper calendars of every type, whether they are freebies from the Baltimore City Department of Public Works or Japanese ones from art museums. However, book-sized planners that fit into my handbag are the Holy Grail. … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. One of my holiday traditions is to indulge in a television binge watch—ideally, a series that gives me that delightful, reckless feeling of wasting time. To enhance the celebration, I watch on my laptop in bed. With tea. In 2014, the holiday binge was Miss Fisher’s Murder … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Speaking to supporters for his presidential in Iowa in 2008, Barack Obama said: “Hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead, or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shoring from the fight. Hope … Read more