I've recently started keeping journals where the art dominates the text-content. Here are a couple of examples, done in wire-bound sketch-books.  

“My journals,” I recently told a friend, “are like junk drawers.” It’s true. I use my journals (and at any given time I keep more than one) for almost everything – not just the traditional task of keeping a diary – but for jotting down shopping lists, task-tracking, brainstorming and problem-solving, and multiple forms of... Continue Reading →

It’s tough to choose a favorite quote by Thomas Paine -- American Founder, career revolutionary, and perennial skeptic. Pithy sayings and memorable phrases are Paine's stock-in-trade, from “We have in it in our power to begin the world over again” to “These are the times that try men’s souls” and even “United States of America”... Continue Reading →

Fourteen years ago tonight, I was nine months pregnant. Getting ready to go to sleep, I suddenly felt my water break. Contractions quickly followed. A trip to the hospital, many hours and a c-section later, my son, Ross Gerard Bichler Kaplan, came into the world. I had no idea how much he would change my... Continue Reading →

Originally posted to Facebook on December 24, 2015 Tonight is my 50th Christmas Eve, and as it happens I'm spending it mostly on my own (though the kiddo will be joining me before bedtime). It's a little odd because for most of my life I've spent Christmas Eve with family--and this night, to me, has... Continue Reading →

I decided to do it at the last minute. As a matter of fact, it was the last day of October before I even remembered that it was happening. I am talking, of course, about National Novel Writing Month, known to its many fans and bragging, battle-scarred veterans as NaNoWriMo, or simply NaNo--that crazy annual... Continue Reading →

My blog on Thomas Paine and the American Founders is now up. There isn't much there yet, other than a quick explanation of the site's purpose and my shiny new bio, but please feel free to check it out. Thomas Paine and Friends  

I've had an attachment to the American Founders ever since I was dragged off as a schoolchild of eleven to see the musical 1776 (I'm tellin' ya, it was *awesome* to be a kid growing up during the Bicentennial). As of today, I have begun building a new, separate blog to talk about Thomas Paine,... Continue Reading →