My grandfather, Manny Steen, came to the US from Ireland when he was 19 years old. He is the voice of Ireland at Ellis Island and his story is part of a Broadway play. He died about 12 years ago, but he lives on forever in literature! Ellis Island: The Dream of America: Words of...

My grandmother took care of us kids when my parents split and my mom went back to work. She taught us to sew, to row a boat, how to catch frogs, how to paint still-lifes, how to paint a fence, to pick blackberries, make kringel, pasha, apple pie, baked pierogi, stroganoff, gingerbread cookies, and how...

I've been needing a shot of Zentangle inspiration lately. I've been working on this new book and drawing tangles for hours and hours. Working out complicated designs... Anyway, my head was starting to feeling squishy and stringy (you already know this, right? You've been practicing "Squid"?). Today...

Laura from Saskatoon left a comment and I didn't feel I could answer it in a sentence or two, so I'm answering it here, in a post. Also, I've received emails along similar lines, so I figured there might be others wondering the same thing. Laura said:  Hi there,...