A dark confession: though I was born in the ‘90s, I have an awful weakness for ‘60s TV spy shows. I got hooked on Get Smart, devoured The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and – most recently – started zooming my way through the original Mission Impossible TV series. Settle in for a few...
June. Love is in the air, weddings abound, and this month's topic is "love and the single spy."And that begs the question: Is it possible for spies to have a love life? I can only imagine this is a balancing act for the real-life spy, especially when the stakes are high. But what about their...
FOUR DAYS. FOUR HUNDRED PHOTOGRAPHS.by Sonja Stone100 hours doesn't seem like much, does it?I've just returned to sunny Arizona after a long weekend in Oregon. I went to the University of Oregon to see a theater production--Mother Courage and Her Children. The performance lasted for three hours...
S. Lee Manning: I have an affinity for jazz, France, and spies, so for my post this month, I chose to celebrate someone who combined all three.Many people know that Josephine Baker was an American jazz star, celebrated in France, who in her later years worked for civil rights.Did you also...
By Francine MathewsThe news that a jet had crashed today outside of Moscow, killing all seventy-one people aboard, reached me as I deplaned from a red-eye in Denver this morning. Red-eyes combine two things I truly dislike: disrupted sleep and air travel. I'm the sort of fragile buttercup who...
by Sonja StoneBABY STEPS.I'm such an all-or-nothing thinker that the thought of 'baby steps' immediately prompts a bout of eye-rolling. However, having recently completed my new year's goals, I realized that simply rewriting last year's goals onto this year's calendar doesn't seem to be getting...
by Sonja StoneHomemade costumes? Yeah, I'm *THAT* mom.Literary costumes? So much the better!Miss Clavel (and Madelines!)I loved Halloween as a kid. I'd spend weeks planning my costume, hours trudging through the neighborhood collecting sugary loot, then days lying to my parents about sneaking...
TEN DAYS OF 'NO SERVICE'by Sonja StoneTwo days ago I woke up in Crested Butte, Colorado. It was 43 degrees. This morning, back in Phoenix, I woke at 0400--it was already 90 degrees.I've just returned from a semi off-grid road trip to Alpine country. I panicked for the first 36 hours or...
S. Lee Manning: If you’ve ever watched the movie Fiddler on the Roof, the scene will be familiar to you. The Jewish protagonist and village philosopher Tevye toasts the engagement of his daughter to Lazar Wolf with the other Jewish men in the village tavern, singing the well-known words,...
AKA: Why Women Make Good Spiesby Sonja StoneAs many of you know, March is Women’s History Month. To celebrate, my blog sisters have written about the unsung intelligence officers throughout history—women who have risked their lives for their countries and causes.History has proven time and...
