New Design for the Gift House Blog

By Martha | Published: September 20, 2012
My blog has a new design and title, but its mission continues: to document the strange and marvelous array of things that appear at our town dump’s swap shop, where locals browse and gab, share and swap, unload and load up. And where Harry Belafonte’s voice is always singing, Day O. My memoir about our family’s [...]
Also posted in Cape Cod memoir, Essay writing, Free Stuff, Free-cycle, Re-useable Life, Recycled Clothing, Salvage, Salvage Shack, Slow Life, The Gift House, nature writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

MAGICAL CLOTHING: FARRAH’S JERSEY

By Martha | Published: September 15, 2011
I have a terrible habit of borrowing clothes. (Hand-me-downs are great too.) Here’s a light-hearted essay I wrote for today’s New York Times about the best thing I ever borrowed — a roller derby jersey worn by Farrah Fawcett on Charlie’s Angels. It tells how I got it. And, painfully, how I had to give it back. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/fashion/charlies-angels-didnt-look-that-sexy-without-help.html
Also posted in Charlie's Angels, Fashion writing, New York Times Styles, Re-useable Life, Recycled Clothing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

If you want to go sailing . . .

By Martha | Published: July 23, 2010
A few photos from our the Cape Cod sailing trip that I wrote about in this month’s Conde Nast Traveler. We highly recommend our captain, Brad Smith. www.captbradsmith.com
Also posted in Cape Cod memoir, General, sailing | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

SAILING CAPE COD — for Conde Nast Traveler

By Martha | Published: July 16, 2010
 . . .  If we’d tried to come by car, we wouldn’t have been allowed to park until after five without a beach sticker. But arriving by boat, the dreamlike Lambert’s Cove and its sandy beach are ours. Brad sets up a halyard on the bow, and we swing on the line like Tarzan, soaring [...]
Also posted in Cape Cod memoir, Travel Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

New Collection from Esquire: Fathers and Sons

By Martha | Published: April 26, 2010
I’m not sure if I should be flattered — or very troubled — that I am the only woman writer in the new Esquire collection or that the subtitle is “What it Means To Be A  Man.”    Hey, I may not be a porcelain doll but I’m not a man, either!  Seriously, though, I’m very happy [...]
Also posted in Esquire writing, General | Tagged , , , | Comments closed