The most influential Christmas gift I ever received as a child was a puppet theater. I was seven. I remember the enormous yellow stage with interchangeable backdrops. Two puppets, a boy and a girl, were attached to controllers at the front of the stage, allowing me to perform and watch my original productions simultaneously. It was a magnificent gift!

Mr. Leonard made death too easy. While most of the pets I’ve loved suffered from illness, he was different.

California College of the Arts will close after 100 years. This sad, unexpected news prompted me to think about the places that have shaped my life.

I never cared much about china patterns when I was about to get married. It just wasn’t something that mattered to me. Maybe that’s because I didn’t grow up with friends who cared about that sort of thing, or because Mom wasn’t around to tell me I should. We’ll just blame all that on boarding school.

What’s on my mind? I recently ran into some trouble at San Francisco International Airport, but don’t worry, it had nothing to do with the loaded gun...

I hate wrapping Christmas presents, but I enjoy the preparation. It’s like making a statement about myself through my choices, especially with the paper. Am I a modern or traditional gal? Should I go funky-fun, or use newspaper to be eco-friendly? Store-bought or handmade bows? Even gift tags, should I handwrite them with serifs or not? And every year, I have to buy a new roll of Magic Scotch Tape because I can’t find last year’s.

I remember wearing a white pilgrim cap and a paper collar in my elementary school play, making handprint turkeys with tempera paint, and bringing canned beans for the school’s Cornucopia Food Drive. After that, we drove five hours in the Dodge to my grandparents’ house in the Bay Area to celebrate Thanksgiving. Those warm traditions stopped when we moved to Pakistan, and the holiday started to look and feel different for me.

I’ve always had an artistic bent. Creativity has shaped my life, influenced by a bit of ADHD and a mother with a degree in design from UC Berkeley.

I’ve been thinking about Jackie, the puppy from my last Facebook post. Our time together at Tarbela was short and ended in heartbreak, but I sure loved that dog.

Bees and People by Naum Loyrish. If you’re expecting a literary review, sadly, you’re mistaken. Bees and People is a Russian book published in 1974, translated into English, and that’s where my story begins.

When we moved to Pakistan, we spent a few days in Tokyo. Dad had lived there during the Korean War and wanted to show Mom the Japan he loved. Before we left, Mom let me choose a Japanese doll and a lacquer box as souvenirs. I picked out a red and gold box right away, but choosing the doll was harder. I wanted a delicate Geisha in a pink kimono, holding a parasol with cherry blossoms. But Mom, who studied design at Berkeley, chose a simple wooden doll for me instead. I was disappointed. It didn’t even have arms or legs to play with!

I've stood atop the Acropolis in Greece, marveled at Bangkok's reclining Buddha, and wandered the streets of Rome. Never did I picture myself at a Tattoo Convention in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

I considered myself a "horse girl" when I was a kid. For my ninth birthday, my mom bought me a book titled "How to Draw Horses" and encouraged me to read "Black Beauty" or, at the very least, to give "Misty of Chincoteague" a try. Although I found it difficult to sit still long enough to read about horses, I could spend hours drawing them.