It’s really shocking that, in 2012, American women still have to defend themselves from the politicians who would take us back in time to the decades when a woman’s only place was in the kitchen sterilizing bottles and cooking dinner for the husband she had successfully landed. Sixty year… Read full post »

First, I’d like to say I get you, Rush Limbaugh.  I’ve met lots of men like you in my lifetime (yes, lots, I’ve been on birth control).  Most of them are certainly less direct about how they feel, but then they don’t have that great big, phallic radio mike to kiss/… Read full post »

Outside the beltway in the quiet suburbs near D.C., we have a property manager living in our house.  Her name is Hera and she’s a blend of, primarily, Red Bone Coon Hound and something else with smooth red hair and a white shield on her chest to match her feet.  She/… Read full post »

Most attraction starts with the physical, but there’s a very powerful sense of romance that erupts when physical attraction swirls into intellectual fascination, and what better place to nurture it than in the shadowy refinement of a bookstore.

Years ago, when my husband and I began da… Read full post »

Having worked my entire adult life, I’ve been one of the many women who encountered sexual harassment on the job. While working as a legal secretary in the South during the 1980’s, I met more than my share of unusual and interesting people.  In one of the more difficult experiences,/… Read full post »

The citizens of the State of Mississippi have a real opportunity to create a paradigm shift in the dynamics of the abortion debate when they vote next Tuesday on Amendment 26.  Rather than focusing on outlawing abortion, maybe the public conversation could become centered on using education/… Read full post »

While waiting for an elevator in a New York department store recently, I overheard two women talking about another woman who is pro-choice.  One woman voiced the opinion that pro-choice women are probably frustrated ideologues who don’t have families and children.  She went on to/… Read full post »

In honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to share an excerpt from The Light in the Leaves, the story of our relationship.  My mother and I loved each other fiercely, and we experienced all the joy and heartache that goes with it.  I still miss her very much.

 "It was the 1960’s.&n… Read full post »

Almost everyone in our country over the age of 30 knows someone who has had an abortion or an unplanned pregnancy.  Whether we've made the decision ourselves or not, we all know someone who has faced the reality of making this choice.  It's never just, "oh, I'll just run down to… Read full post »

From the National Organization for Women: "H.R.3, the deceptively named No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, is up for a vote in the House of Representatives this week. One of several dangerous pieces of legislation in this 112th Congress, H.R.3 would permanently reinforce a ban on federal fund… Read full post »

As a political Independent, I've always viewed the whole squabble about whether President Obama was born in the United States as the gossip around the national water cooler: we all know it's trash talk, but we stop and listen anyway.  It's the kind of mean-spirited yakking that foolish politicia… Read full post »

I've decided to invite my sister to join me in a civilized political debate.  The last three or four years have made that type of discussion between us as risky as throwing a can of hairspray into an open fire, so it's a dangerous idea.  I lean to the left, and… Read full post »

Friendships with other women are a relatively new luxury.  For years, I just didn't have free time as a single parent to spend with friends, but I've come to realize how important it is to connect with other women and listen to each other.  There are smart women in/… Read full post »