🔥 Tomorrow (4/18) marks the 120th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the deadliest in U.S. history. 3000+ people died & 250,000 (1/2 the city!) were homeless. Yet afterward, eyewitnesses said the air was filled w/a holiday-like spirit, maybe b/c people were happy just to be alive! ✴️
This past Fri, when I saw 4 #astronauts - incl. a #woman - splash safely down, I cried. Our times are eerily like those of 1969 when the 1st human landed on the #moon: the country's hugely divided & we have a #corrupt president waging an unwinnable war. #Artemis II showed us the good in humanity.
❄️ The winter was full of snow & freezing temperatures in Tahoe, but that didn't deter this Incline surfer & his dog! 🐕
(Photo by Tom Doyle)
#surfing #snow
⭐️How amazing to see Maxine Hong Kingston & her husband Earl alongside me at Sat's No Kings protest! Hong Kingston wrote 1 of my favorite #books in the world, WOMAN WARRIOR, soon out in a 50th anniv. edition. All of us have been protesting insane wars & rogue presidents since the '70s! 🔥🔥
#writer
💥Excited to see my story "Voices" published in Ginosko Literary Journal's new issue! Many thanks to Editors Robert Paul Cesaretti & Ben C Davies!
Read this story on p. 50 💥💥
open.substack.com/pub/ginoskol...
#author #writer #story
🌱🪻Our Mar. 14 Babylon Salon features 5 fabulous writers:
⭐ Charlie Jane Anders
⭐ Grant Faulkner
⭐ Mark Ernest Pothier
⭐ Grayson Thompson
⭐ And our very own Lauren Johnson!
Bay Area friends, come on out to The Sycamore @ 5:30pm. As always, our shows are free! ❤️ www.babylonsalon.com
Pearl Jam!
Yes!
Wow!
💥💥Look what fell out of a book when I was organizing yesterday! The Rolling Stones “Bridges to Babylon” ticket at the Oakland Stadium (as if was called in 1997), for all of $65. The Stones were more energetic and less wrinkled then -- an amazing concert, esp. the encore “Brown Sugar”!🎶
🌺I discovered these flowers stubbornly blooming in my garden, even though it's winter. We could all use a bit of beauty right now! 🌞🌞
#resistance #iceout
Standing in solidarity with Minnesota today and their “Day of Truth & Freedom” protest in the wake of the killing of Renee Good and invasion of ICE troops. Thank you for paving the way! ❤️💚💜
A recent walk on the #Berkeley campus led me to the Hearst Mining Building, an architectural wonder! Most people don’t know there's a secret tunnel nearby reaching into the Hayward Fault. In 1900s, it gave mining students—incl. my dad—hands-on experience.
news.berkeley.edu/.../hidden-b...
#writer
💥Another trip around the #sun! So many now I only celebrate the single digits. Notice how Marco's #dog Oakley is much more interested in the champagne! 🥂
#writers #author #story #birthday
⭐️ In spite of the rain on Jan. 1, we took ourselves off to Golden Gate Park to be surrounded by electrifying beauty at the Botanical Garden Lightscape! What a way to welcome in 2026! 🌿🌺💥
#newyear #light #garden
Every year we take out Sam's grandmother's 90+ year old menorah to #celebrate #Hanukkah. I treasure this nickel-plated menorah for its simplicity & imagine the many #children - Sam and his mother (who's passed) among them - who gathered around in awe. Here's how it lit up the rainy night yesterday.
❤️ Here's what greeted me as I finished up my hike in Tilden Park yesterday! One of the very best parts of living in the Bay Area are the flaming winter sunsets. 🔥
#writers #hikers #beauty
💥 TONIGHT! Bay Area peeps, please join us! As always, admission is free 🎆
Great news! My essay "Intruder"made it into the Notable Essays of 2025 in the new American Best Essays collection! Many thanks to Lori Ostlund & Anne Raeff for their invaluable comments along the way! ✨✨✨
#writer #author #readers #books #writing
Our last swim of 2025 -- on the most gorgeously long beach in Santa Cruz!
💥Had an amazing time this weekend at Tahoe Literary Festival! I met so many great writers, including my fellow authors at @sibyllinepress.bsky.social: Julia Park Tracey, Kim Culbertson & Karen Nelson! 💖💖
💥People always ask me how I got started as a #writer & what it's been like since. This interview in Bold Journey magazine shares my story--as well as my thoughts on the #creative process.🌀
#writing #story #books #creativity
boldjourney.com/meet-laurie-...
🔥These words from Anton Chekhov ring 1000 times true every time I read them: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." #writerlife #writer #writing
🔥 It was wonderful to hit the streets last Saturday to protest Trump's cruelty. We saw many signs like this one! ❤️
#writers #NoKings #protest #indivisible
I'm thrilled to be introducing poet & playwright Paul S. Flores TOMORROW 6/14 at Babylon Salon. Pls join us at The Sycamore in the Mission at 5:30pm. As always, free! www.babylonsalon.com
#writing #books #reading
🔥On Sat, 6/14, Babylon Salon proudly presents #authors Kate Folk [Sky Daddy], Paul S Flores [We Still Be], Duane Horton [No Hero Alone], S.G. Browne [Lost Creatures] & Lauren Parker [Spells for Success]! Come out to The SycamoreSF for drinks at 5pm! Reading, 5:30. Free! Deets: www.babylonsalon.com 💜
It was great to be part of the Page St. Writers' event at Sebastopol's Lit Crawl on Sat 5/17! I read about my family's roots in Healdsburg, CA - a first for me!
#writer #books #authors #reading
🌿Please join us this Sat 5/17 @ LitCamp's #reading at Sebastopol's #Litcrawl when 15 #writers-- including me--share short takes on a having a super bad attitude! 5pm, 186 N. Main Street. FREE. It'd be great to see you! 💜
#writer #writing #books
It was a stupendous evening Lori!
Happiness abounds! Wishing a wonderful launch to @loriostlund.bsky.social whose new story collection ARE YOU HAPPY? will astound & delight you! I highly recommend this book! loriostlund.com