-
Jan 17, 2025 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
DIYToward a tiny publishing revolution of one’s ownAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inThe DIY Diaries·6 min read·--paper collage by the authorAs a poet, I accepted long ago that I wouldn’t make money from my writing. My dad began telling me when I was in high school that I needed to figure out a practical career “with computers or something.”I became an English teacher, and now I mostly teach online, so maybe that’s the computer part?
-
Jan 16, 2025 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
Gardening and CommunityA delicious ideaAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inThe Daily Cuppa·Just now--author’s photoI found this neighborhood herb garden when I was heading to an appointment and parked on a side street in north Seattle. What a great idea, don’t you think? I wonder how the little garden will look months from now when the soil warms up. I’ve seen lots of Little Free Libraries and other ways that people share resources, but I’d never seen a garden with a written invitation to share.
-
Jan 15, 2025 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
FilmOr, a perfect movie date from 2024Amanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inCounter Arts·4 min read·--Fozzie Bear! (photo by author)The fact that I count Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear among my favorite Hollywood stars probably tells you when I grew up: a bright yet somewhat staticky era before most of us could imagine the promise of cable, let alone streaming and high-def TV.
-
Jan 6, 2025 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
CatsA day in the life of an older gentlemanAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inCatness·4 min read·--Mr. Cat testing and commenting on his new stairs (photo by author)As an elder statesman of the cat populace, Mr. Cat is bravely facing what seems to be worsening arthritis. He’s grown more talkative as he’s gotten older, and he’s had some remarks about his achiness. I hope he’s not in pain. It’s so hard to know with cats.
-
Dec 9, 2024 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
DIYIt was indeed dustyAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inThe DIY Diaries·4 min read·--Photo by Quan Jing on UnsplashA few days ago while looking for a certain lid to one of my saucepans, I noticed my slow cooker in the back of the cupboard. It’s a nice Hamilton Beach one that my dad gave me — roomy enough for some hearty meals but not so big as to take up a ton of space. I suppose it had been a lonely time for the slow cooker.
-
Dec 5, 2024 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
Snow Globe StoryRemembering my grandmaAmanda Laughtland·Follow1 min read·--With grandma, Author’s CollectionMy grandma liked finding gifts for stockings. I’d get ponytail holders, pencils with Mandy on them…. As my brother and I got older, she’d wrap the stuff into boxes, instead of actual stockings. Somehow this felt extra charming, to open a package of individually wrapped gifts. She didn’t bake cookies anytime but Christmas. She liked them uniformly small, two bites each.
-
Dec 4, 2024 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
LGBTQA lesbian not-quite romance storyAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inPrism & Pen·5 min read·--Photo by Annie Spratt on UnsplashI didn’t know I was a lesbian back when I lived at home with my parents and took the bus into the city to attend the university and study poetry writing. One day on the bus, I ran into a coworker from my high school job; we’d spent many evenings and weekends shelving books and avoiding our supervisor at a public library.
-
Dec 3, 2024 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
WorkYour English teacher considers AIAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inThe Daily Cuppa·1 min read·--Photo by Craig Sybert on UnsplashLearning about teachers using AI to assess student essays, I imagine a strange contest pitting the offense of Not Writing against the defense of Not Working. Am I experiencing a crisis of meaning with teaching? Yes. Why read what’s scraped up and mashed together, with falsified citations added to create a document that resembles research-based writing?
-
Nov 25, 2024 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
CatsHis admirable yet challenging musical giftsAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inCatness·5 min read·--Always listening for ideas! Author’s photo, courtesy of her foster daughter. I’ve often felt frustrated by the persistent noisiness of Mr. Cat. He’s pretty quiet most of the time, but when he does decide to exercise his musical talents, he doesn’t let up until he’s achieved his usual objects of receiving food and my undivided attention.
-
Nov 21, 2024 | 
medium.com | Amanda Laughtland
DIYA writing prompt from The DIY DiariesAmanda Laughtland·FollowPublished inThe DIY Diaries·4 min read·--Photo by Gytis Bukauskas on UnsplashOne of the many cool things about DIY projects is how you can turn something you already have into something (almost) completely different. There’s a satisfying feeling in making old things new again, especially when you have perfectly good materials that you don’t want to throw out.
