There’s something particularly jarring about opening your computer in the morning and seeing a screen displaying what appears to be a man bound and tied with rope being thrown into a river while an angry crowd looks on. It’s made more jarring by the juxtaposition of this image with an ad for an “essential” nonstick … Continue reading My World This Morning
Author: laurisburns
Sitting Around on Porches
There's a reason, I tell her, why I don't live in the most beautiful place in the world any more. So many memories. Like most good experiences, the years can erase the bad parts. Or if not erase, maybe at least blur them to a comfortable haze. So many memories are centered around transportation on … Continue reading Sitting Around on Porches
Thoughts and Prayers
To all the politicians out there who are sending their thoughts and prayers in light of the latest mass slaughter of our nation's children, may I remind you that, while you may pray anytime you want in this country, as many of us are doing right now, we didn't send you to Washington to pray … Continue reading Thoughts and Prayers
Southern Writer from New England
I feel confused over my obsession with southern writers. Sometimes I can’t figure out if my story is about characters from my New England upbringing or about folks from the South. Both places offer a rich opportunity to write about strange people with peculiar accents. Both have a relationship with certain types of food. But … Continue reading Southern Writer from New England
One of the Famous Authors from “My Island”
This video about the author Ernest Gann has many scenes from "my island" - San Juan Island in Washington state, where I lived for many years. A prolific author and artist, Gann always followed his passions - flying, boats, jumping out of an airplane in his 70's. Gann wrote numerous top selling books, including "Fate … Continue reading One of the Famous Authors from “My Island”
Immigration & (IL)logic
I have days when I feel thoroughly confused by the rhetoric and fears thrown around on the subject of immigration. I hear that we need to reduce immigration to the US because immigrants take the good jobs away from Americans. So we should disallow highly educated immigrants who are skilled and qualified to fill the … Continue reading Immigration & (IL)logic
Bitty & Beau’s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrzz-sibpv0 I'm thinking that every time that I wake up feeling pissed or depressed or horrified about the latest loss of life from war, forced migration, generalized hatred, environmental disasters, gun violence, the general condition of the world, the latest hateful tirade from the president of my country or something else threatening to mess up … Continue reading Bitty & Beau’s
My Island Life
A Hundred Years Ago - or so it seems, although by the date on the front page, I see that it was actually 27 years past - I wrote this article about what was then my life. Sometimes I think I really miss that life. Well, maybe not that life, but certain parts of it. … Continue reading My Island Life
My Town
This photo article was published a while back. It was a fun research project walking around my neighborhood taking photos of amazing old houses. ABOVE - THE CUPOLA. The iconic image of the district of Magdalena del Mar will soon disappear. Well perhaps not totally disappear, but certainly from my vantage point a few blocks away and … Continue reading My Town
Southern Accents
"And try not to sound so damned yankee!" Not the typical advice from a law professor perhaps, but she hadn’t asked for advice on interpreting some obscure community property ruling. Her need on this sweltering Mississippi afternoon was for advice on how to talk to the judge who would rule on her punishment for the … Continue reading Southern Accents
Don’t Mess with My History
Do we really need to remove the monuments honoring confederate "heroes?" Or do we need to use them to illuminate our history as it actually was, in a search for truth and understanding of our real past? President Trump has claimed that removing these statues represents the changing of history. But of course you can't change … Continue reading Don’t Mess with My History
Writers’ Solitude
Have you ever had the opportunity to experience total solitude for a week? Time to focus on your writing and exist in a world where it's not even necessary to block the rest of the world out because for that chunk of time, the rest of the world doesn't exist in your life? I had this experience for the first time recently when I attended a retreat at the Ricardo Palma House...
Poverty in America
Having grown up being taught about the "American Dream," it's hard to wrap my arms around the reality of 41 million people living in poverty in my country. This UN observer, having investigated other countries in the past, now visits communities in the US where people have no income, no access to bathrooms, no place to sleep and no hope.
The UN's Philip Alston's "fact-finding mission into the richest nation the world has ever known has led him to investigate the tragedy at its core: the 41 million people who officially live in poverty."
“My role is to hold governments to account,” he said. “If the US administration doesn’t want to talk about the right to housing, healthcare or food, then there are still basic human rights standards that have to be met. It’s my job to point that out.”
Stories Remembered
My New England stories are based on my memories of growing up in a small New England town. The stories, and the memories, are so much a part of me that I don't always know which parts are something I experienced and which parts live in the imagination of my mind or the shared past … Continue reading Stories Remembered