Be a Cactus Podcast

Hi Friends, I had a dental appointment this week and found the appointment card in my purse pocket. The substitution of “Victory” for “Victoria” made me laugh. I hadn’t noticed it six months ago when the receptionist gave it to me. I just tucked it in my purse without looking. I didn’t have any particular victories this week, but the dental assistant told me my teeth were strong and healthy, so I’...

Hi Friends, I’m late—life has overtaken my best intentions, but in California, it’s still (late) morning, so I’m finishing up and recording. There will probably be some noises like barking dogs and people coming in the house because we’re gathering to go to an organ concert later. I’ve been hiding out a bit for a few weeks. I finished up a two-week course of Fluorouracil, a sort of chemotherapy cr...

Hello Friends, As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I’m going out of town for a few days (Riverside County Office of Education’s Arts Lift Conference), so I’m setting this up early. Actually, I’m writing this at the same time as Friday’s post. On Wednesday. I hope Thursday-Saturday is calm. Sorry about the state of the state So, another week, and the world’s still on fire. I worried over putting up my...

Hello Friends, I worry that I’ll drive people away with so much focus on books that look at the country and tell us who we are and how we got here. But at the same time, I am compelled to read these and try to understand them as a way forward. And despite all that’s happened in the last five months (in the last two weeks!), I do believe in a positive way forward. I’m think you might be in the same...

Hello Friends, Another tough week. I want to discuss my reading (more recommendations), but if it’s all too much, enjoy the lemon recipes I’ve tried these last few months. And don’t forget: Jess Craven posts daily about politically actionable things to do in the face of despair (she includes scripts and links to legislators—making it very easy!) as well as a Sunday post on all the good things that...

Hello Friends! A Big Weekend Happy Father’s Day. I know holidays can be full of missing loved ones as well as celebrations of those we have with us. I hope you find something/someone to bring you a moment of joy and that the day includes good company. I also know yesterday was a big day for lots of you. I attended a protest, one I figured would be quite small. It was small relative to protests in...

Hello Friends, I’m finishing up some reading I plunged into seeking answers to the question of why we in the U.S. are what we are now. I previously discussed two books I read, Wild Religion and Cults Like Us . I also listened to an audiobook of Cowboy Apocalypse , but I need to get a look at a print copy before I can talk about it. And since I don’t want to buy it twice, I’m getting that copy thro...

I had such a wonderful time at my ‘soft’ book launch two weeks ago (actual launch date is June 21). People from all walks of my life were there—family, friends from high school and college, from writing workshops and work. So much fun. However, the road to this launch was pretty crazy. I wrote an essay about that path. And while, after writing the essay, I decided on cupcakes with little book deco...

Hello Friends, I had a great time last weekend at my ‘soft launch’ for Keep Sweet , which will officially launch June 21. Beautiful venue, lots of friends and family. A dream come true! I hope to post about that journey—my first book launch was on the day of my mom’s funeral—next week. Meanwhile, I’m back to wondering about America’s cultish behaviors. This is long, a deeper dive, so I’m holding o...

Hello Friends! I’m in a bit of a panic while getting ready for my book launch. I’m writing and wrapping this up on Tuesday. The launch is coming up on Saturday. This review will post on Sunday, so the launch will be over by the time you see this. I hope I can share about it next week. Meanwhile, the not-so-great book ban news is in Friday’s post. This post is about hope. (The title may fool you.)...

Hello Friends, It’s Mother’s Day in the U.S. I hope people are enjoying it or, if grieving the loss of their mother, are able to enjoy some good memories. On Thursday, I had a sudden sense of panic about having forgotten to buy a Mother’s Day gift. My mom died four years ago; my mother-in-law died six years ago. So—I know these things happen. Dave Barry had a funny post this week about Mother’s Da...

Hello Friends, Quite the week (once again!), huh? Big things are going on in the book banning space. On Friday, I posted about the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor as well as updates on the Institute of Museum and Library Services and military school book purges. Today I have a review of the book Wild Faith by Talia Lavin, but before we get into that, here are a few things you will enjoy: * In...

Hello Friends, This week’s primary topic is Unheard Witness by Jo Scott-Coe. Scott-Coe started a (recommended!) new Substack last month. She writes about domestic abuse and abuse survivors. Here’s a representative sample: Please note: There is so much library, book challenge, and book ban news every week that I’ve decided to move it to its own post, hopefully each Friday. ( Last Friday’s is here ....

Hello Friends, I’m finishing up early again this week because I am going to go hang out with a friend whose mother died last week. I think I’m going to skip all that I feel about the world at large (and, boy, is it a lot) and just jump right into thoughts on books. AI and stolen books When I read this week that Meta used the illegal pirate site LibGen to train their AI, I knew my collection of sho...

I Wrote a Book! Here’s a Cake! Hello Friends, I know we’re still in a crazy place, but I’m working on celebrating this week. First I’m going to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with family. I’m making soda bread and this Chocolate Irish Cream Cake that I found in the NYTimes cooking section. Here’s a gift link to the recipe in case you, too, want to celebrate with a boozy cake. May your blessings outnu...

Hello Friends, I have been doom scrolling off and on all week and am very late in writing this. I thought about skipping it, but I had said last week that I wanted to discuss the #5 top banned book Thirteen Reasons Why. Maybe it’s something from my childhood, I don't know, but I feel better when I follow through. So, here I am. As things fall apart, I see many people are working to either make us...

Friends, Although I post Be a Cactus early on Sunday mornings (early in California, anyway), I usually write posts/essays on Fridays and record them on Saturday. So, here I am on Friday night. My God. The level of today’s dysfunction and betrayal has me feeling shame and terror all at once. When I consider the Ukrainian people and Zelenskyy, I think about the ‘Greatest Generation’ of WWII—the self...

Hello Friends, It’s getting to be something of a cliche to say “Another hard week!” I hope you have found the things that help you make change in the world. The short story I’m working on lost its voice somewhere in the middle, so I have to work on landing that. I wanted the final scene to be both wacky and poignant—in other words, to have the flavor of life that teaches and nurtures me. I haven’t...

Hello Friends, It’s been another wild week. (Are you writing letters and phoning to support the courts?) I decreased my news and op-ed reading/viewing time. I’m down from five hours a day to about three hours. So I still need to work on it. That said, I did get some work done. I rewrote an essay about 2020-21 to cut over 400 words so it would be in shape for submission. I’m not sure any lit mags w...

Hi Friends, I realize this is posting on the day of the Super Bowl, but it’s landing many hours prior, so I hope you read and enjoy! If you’re busy making chili and snacks, there’s always the listening option! The audio is not AI—it’s me, a human being. 😊 A friend pointed out that I had an article up on BuzzFeed this week . I didn’t know about it as they didn’t notify me. They pulled it from Huff...

Hello Friends! I know this is a week of “What fresh hell is this?” The mistake I’m making—and that I made all through the four years of Trump Round One—is reading news for hours on end, asking myself just that question. I missed a co-write on Wednesday morning, completely forgot about it, because I was pouring over news and opinion pieces. Last Friday, I forgot the time of one of my online critiqu...

Help is out there Almost everyone I know has had a horrible week and is looking for both allies and positive moments that will re-energize them. So rather than list all the terrible things from this week—from the truly heinous to the ridiculous (Gulf of America, anyone?), I want to be positive and point, first, to some allies, and then to the incredible embodiment of hope that is the Right Rev. Ma...

Hi Friends, The thing most on our minds here in Southern California this week is that large swaths of Los Angles are on fire. So many people have lost their homes. The adult children of two of my friends have lost everything. 2025 already feels like a difficult year. I hate seeing these fires being politicized—and the victims being disparaged— but I’m not surprised. Like Mr. Rogers told us to do,...

Happy New Year, Friends! In a previous post about banned books and The Court of Thorns and Roses (first book only), I mentioned that I didn’t object to the sexuality on display—the reason the book is so often banned from high school libraries—but that I don’t like books with men (or faeries) who have episodes of no control over their behavior, and thus are not responsible for what they do. There a...

Hi Friends, I see that Hanukkah begins on Christmas Day and this has led me to wonder about whether movie theater ticket sales on December 25 will significantly drop. I’m thinking about pointless stuff because it’s Friday as I work on this Sunday post, and I want my mind off the drama of a possible government shutdown. [I thought I typed ‘shutdown,’ but that autocorrected to ‘s**t down’—I’ll just...