louise on the left (coast)

OCTOBER 11, 2015 Sacred Carnality BY MARY KARR This essay is drawn from “The Art of Memoir,” by Mary Karr, published byHarperCollins. My holy of holies is the human body —Anton Chekhov, May, 1888 Carnality sits at the root of the show-don’t-tell edict that every writing teacher harps on all the time, because it works. By carnal, I mean, Can you apprehend it through the five senses? In writing a scene, you must help the reader employ smell and taste and touch as well as image and noise. The more carnal a writer’s nature, the better she’ll be at this, and there are subcategories according to the senses. A great glutton can evoke the salty bite of pastrami on black rye; the sex addict will excel at smooth flesh; the one with a painterly eye visual beauty, etc. Every memoir should brim over with the physical experiences that once streamed in—the smell of garlicky gumbo, your hand in an animal’s fur, the ocean’s phosphor lighting up bodies underwater all acid green. O

When was the last time you were in a room with hundreds of parents and others managing food allergies? Maybe never? You’ll get your chance by attending the  2015 FARE National Food Allergy Conference on   May 16-17   in Long Beach, Calif.  This year marks the first time the national conference will take place on the West Coast!   This unique opportunity gathers individuals and families managing food allergies, caregivers, school staff, healthcare professionals and others to learn about advances in food allergy research and advocacy, best practices and practical skills for living well with food allergies, and much more. Here are just a few of the exciting sessions you can attend: ·           “Support Group for Parents of Newly Diagnosed Children,” led by a registered dietician and mother of a 16-year-old with multiple food allergies ·           “Primed to Present: What Every Parent Must Know About Managing Food Allergies at School,” led by Gina Clowes, FARE’