While I have yet to achieve curmudgeon status, I suspect I'm well on my way, particularly at this time of year. So much happens in December to contribute to my crabbiness: the cold, the shorter days, my once-upon-a-time wedding anniversary, the insistence on excessive consumption (f… Read full post »

It's Monday. It's raining. I just finished the umteenth read-through of the final layout of the Book That's Just About Ready to Go to the Printers Any Day Now But Feels Like It Never Will Be. I'm tired. I'm bored. I'm...on Open Salon again with an idea.

I was cleaning… Read full post »

 My 44-year old friend Natalie looks great. She is half way through her radiation treatment for a malignant tumor found so far back in her breast no self-exam would have found it. Hopefully she'll be able to avoid chemotherapy. She had no family history of cancer, no genetic or… Read full post »

The first time I saw Bruce Springsteen live was in 2002. I'd already lived in New Jersey for eleven years at that point. I knew he was the boss. I owned several CDs. I'd met a couple of his sidemen years before when I was eking out a living in New… Read full post »

As promised, here is my take on both the Oprah and the Barbara Walters interviews. There are or will be differences of opinions or perhaps just various shadings. Read everything you can. An informed public is, well, informed, even if, at this juncture, we're all just throwing out our opinions. T… Read full post »

Sarah Palin's new book hits the bookstores tomorrow, just after her much anticipated appearance on "Oprah" and her slightly less promoted appearance on "Good Morning American" with Barbara Walters. Can NPR be far behind?

Since I'm an average Jane, just like former Governor Palin, I will have… Read full post »

I've been sick with a head cold which a massive dose of "Emergen-C" has probably prevented from turning worse.  I'm still tired, stressed, and more than a little cranky. I'm also behind the curve in terms of current events commentary, so I'd thought I'd play catch-up by offering my unsolici… Read full post »

  "scary"

My next door neighbor's son Jason was crestfallen when he got the memo  from school about this year's Halloween celebration: no vampires, no zombies, no monsters, no devils; no swords or stakes or axes or ropes or hockey masks with breathing holes. Forget the fake blood or… Read full post »

How could you not like this incredibly succinct lede from the Christian Science Monitor: "Public likes public option for healthcare. Joe Lieberman doesn’t."

The Independent from Connecticut isn't particularly interested in polls showing a majority - slim but ever-present - of… Read full post »

our Afghanistan policy can't possibly be simple 

According to the weekly news index from Pew Research, Afghanistan has become the focus of both old and new media – at least until some cute video of a pet or a baby starts circulating or some reality show contestant starts complaining, at wh… Read full post »

 (the information contained herewithin may have been altered to protect the innocent, protect the guilty, or enhance the plot line)

       My part-time friend and sometime literary agent Adele called me in the middle of a full-blown meltdown. "No one wan… Read full post »

A friend of mine alerted me yesterday to the hoopla surrounding a tweet from entrepreneur and career counselor to young women, Penelope Trunk, who posted the following last week: "I'm in a board meeting. Having a miscarriage. Thank goodness, because there's a fucked-up 3-week ho… Read full post »

Several recent stories have prompted some deep thought about a subject that bothers me: Are men in many societies so out of control that special protections, not to mention numerous restrictions, are required for women all over the world? Is it that difficult for men to get a handle on… Read full post »

Today’s headline in USA Today reads as follows: “What Happened to Civility?” At the risk of sounding rude: hahaha, oh that’s a good one, RAFLOL.

Our current rash of incivility is nothing new but it does seem at times to be particularly threatening. Once thought to be th… Read full post »