I enjoyed Oppenheimer. I knew the ending. We survived the cold war. Time as an agent of distance makes bleak things seem less awful. I lived through the aftermath of the Oppenheimer era. I participated in “duck and cover” exercises as a child. I was frightened, but we all survived…

Barbie. Critics (mostly men) have said it reproduces more patriarchy (here) and that it makes men become incels (here). Please. Critics (mostly men) have said Barbie recommends autonomy instead of community (here). Did they go to the bathroom during the Barbieland scenes? Critics (some women) have said — I didn’t…

This is a dark period of history. There’s no getting away from the pandemic and politics. Masks, vaccines, and travel restrictions are keeping us apart again. What every one of us needs is resilience and we can have that through our friendships. Friends are our chosen people and we are…

The headlines are apocalyptic. Delta disaster, insurrection, mask mandate madness, and perhaps the worst — children contracting Covid. I haven’t even included climate change that is worsening and gun violence that is escalating. I feel helpless. This daily parade of horror includes hurling insults, pithy one-liners, pointing fingers, and brazen…

I watched the movie Nomadland. It won an Oscar for reasons that escape me. Frances McDormand won the best actress award for obvious reasons. The movie seems to want to pair the romanticism of travel with the gritty underbelly of economic woes. …

We’re in a precarious position as a country, halfway between pandemic dystopia and recovery utopia. Consider that January 21, 2021, was an immense political pivot point that created a vacuum. For 81 million people it was the culmination of overcoming a brutal political reign of gaslighting and decisions that were…

In August 2020 I got off the road of full-time RV travel and found shelter in a senior citizen apartment complex. I am grateful such things exist because it is the only place where I could afford to live alone in one of the highest-cost housing markets in the country…

Immediate gratification is our national obsession and it has come home to roost. We want to be “over” this pandemic and be able to do whatever we want whenever we want. Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t care what we want. We are selfish people. We want it now and anyone who…

I live the life of wanderlust, a traveler who comes and goes as she pleases. Except now — when a biologic virus upends the world and forces everyone inside. I’m parked, for the duration. I’m at risk, and my lust for travel does not exceed my lust for living. …