When I was a girl of 12 or 13 years, my family took its annual vacation at Bethany Beach, in Delaware. We spent a week at the shore every year with my parents' best friends, and I always looked forward to it. My friends often hated spending time away from home with their families, but our vacations were one of my favorite times of year. On vacation ( Read more... )

We were living in the house on Kinkaid Ct. I was maybe 6 or 7. My mom had fallen asleep on the living room couch, which was unusual. Although she was tired as often as any mother of three, she rarely capitulated in such a manner. Dad always said it was because Mom associated sleeping in the middle of the day with being sick or bad or something. I ( Read more... )

I grew up with a radically feminist mother. I knew the words "sexist" and "feminist" well before I started kindergarten, and I vividly remember one conversation wherein my mom explained "We don't buy pizza from Domino's, because some pregnant women don't want to have babies, but Domino's gives money to people who try to make the women have their ( Read more... )

I think I'm going to go ahead and declare October my favorite month. The air never smells better than it does during October, and the weather allows for all kinds of interesting fashion choices. October means Halloween and apples and squash, pumpkins and brightly colored trees. . . Speaking of the trees, one time in middle school, my science ( Read more... )

I thought today was the 2nd of September. It's been a busy day. Yesterday I drove home from Loveland, CO, where I spent Labor Day weekend with Jean. Today I've been tired and a bit frantic at work, trying to catch up, and mis-dating everything as 9/2 ( Read more... )

I've had some thoughts percolating for some time about college tuition, the value of a college degree, and the modern workplace ( Read more... )

I think if a biographer were ever to study the music I listen to or the books I read, (s)he would find some very interesting trends. I haven't paid too much attention to the patterns myself, because music and books are means of medication for me, and I don't want to start analyzing the behavior and ruin the effectiveness of the treatment ( Read more... )

A weird thing happened last year. In an ordinary year, it might have warranted its own post at the time. However, given the turmoil that was pretty much 2011-2013, this tidbit was shunted aside again and again while I dealt with other things ( Read more... )

I think about my kids a hell of a lot for someone who doesn't have any kids. One of my favorite (or at least, frequent) subjects of fantasy is how to protect my daughter from the body image problems I suffered growing up, which still occasionally rear their ugly heads today. I worry about her being like me, unable to be happy with the rest of her ( Read more... )

I went to Greenwood Swingout in Tulsa, OK this past weekend. I accidentally left my laptop, Daisy, at home, which was a real shame because I REALLY wanted to write while I was there. Now, all the thoughts I had are stale and withered. Maybe they'll be back, one day ( Read more... )