Sometimes you just gotta say, "what the fuck?" and do it. That was my rationalization anyway when I found myself at Red's Firing Range yesterday in Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb of Austin. Complete with a big 'ole American flag painted on the front wa… Read full post »

Haven't been around in quite a while. For a number of reasons. Not the least of which is my stubborn underemployment. But I'm finding things to occupy my time and my mind. Joined a local writers' group. Went to my first meeting last week. It was… Read full post »

And that's all I have to say on the matter.

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I've been pondering this for a while now. Is it possible to experience free-floating anxiety so intense that when the alarm goes off each morning, the first thing you do is a quick check to see if it's still there? Yep. Didn't take the redeye while you were sleeping.  Yet, you… Read full post »

Like everyone else here on OS, I've probably revealed more than I should about myself in my posts. But, I guess there are a few things still under the rug left to be revealed. Here's a real hodge-podge of facts and figures.

1. I'm a registered dietitan. I always liked nutrition,… Read full post »

That pretty much sums up my life these days. Wouldn't be so bad if there weren't bills to pay, gas to put in the tank, food to put on the table, property taxes coming due, etc.

I've read more in the last year than I did in the previous 10.… Read full post »

He was crying. He didn't try to hide it. It's okay to let it out in front of Mom. Not cool around his friends, who are all leaving soon for the likes of Wash U, Lehigh University, Stanford, University of Florida. This is the second wave of friends he has seen off… Read full post »

I’ll be gone for the rest of this week. Leaving tomorrow for New York, where I’ll be caught up in a combination of a Mediabistro Career Circus and the annual BlogHer conference. I’m hoping the meetings will generate lots of ideas for blogging,… Read full post »

I'm about to mark another Friday off on the calendar and still no work. I don't really count the $150 blogging assignment that came my way yesterday. Better than nothing, I guess. But barely. This is strange new territory for me. The ground is shifting beneath my feet and I'm not… Read full post »

Music is personal. Aside from the top 40 tunes you hear played ad nauseum on the local radio frequency or on Sunday's  American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest's fake nice voice (you just know he'd stab you in the back the first chance he got), there's no logical reason why some songs… Read full post »

It just sort of happens. The kids get older. Get their own lives, their own circle of friends. Doing things as a family, except the occasional sit-down meal together, which is also becoming increasingly rare, becomes little more than a few fond memories of trips to the zoo,… Read full post »

So, a werewolf, a ghost, and a vampire walk onto a bar...Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. But it's more or less the premise of one of my favorite summer shows. Chances are good you haven't heard of it. It gets almost no promotion on this side… Read full post »

 I'm not quite sure how I missed it, but until last night I had never seen the movie Unfaithful with Diane Lane, Richard Gere and the breathtakingly handsome Olivier Martinez (let us bow our heads in silence as a sign of respect). Geez. What is it about those French guys?… Read full post »

I've written about it before, but I have a thing for music and my tastes tend to skew young. But, I'm no music critic, a la Cranky Cuss. "I just know what I like."

When I'm writing, I find my characters revealing themselves in certain songs. In both the music and… Read full post »

Some women are natural moms. Earth Mother types. Kids are drawn to them like the children of Hamelin were to the Pied Piper. Theirs are the houses where everyone loves to congregrate to soak up the warmth, to take in the smell of freshly baked oatmeal cookies served with icy cold milk… Read full post »

Click here for a better view of The Cure

I finally made it to the finish line. Well, at least one finish line. My little vampire romance that I've been talking about for months is a reality. It took a while. And just the right mix of will, stubbornness, desi… Read full post »

Today is my b'day. I try to ignore it these days. But, thought I'd use this opportunity to check in. I've discovered I just can't do it all. I've been busy. When it rains, it pours, and all that.

A work project came in. They wanted it yesterday, of course. Worked… Read full post »

My wedding anniversary is coming up. It will be 25 years next month. To say our wedding was small is to overstate it. Our wedding party consisted of me, my soon-to-be husband and a friend of his from work acting as a witness. I remember waiting outside the Brooklyn… Read full post »

Okay, this is sort of out of character for me. Maybe it's indicative of my mood. My brother, who's constantly on the prowl on the internet and comes up with all kinds of cool stuff related to film and Tweets about it, dug up this one.

A strong warning up… Read full post »

My son is about to turn 19 and is chomping at the bit to get a car. And I'm growing tired of the three licensed drivers in the family playing musical cars on a daily basis. We've spent a lot of time searching Craig's List, trying to find someone desperate for instant… Read full post »

I've been in a funk. Distracted. Unable to focus. Worried about the fact that no work is coming my way. Already losing sleep over how to pay property taxes for 2011. You know the drill. You lie awake staring at the ceiling, crunching numbers that never add up. Basically, I've been… Read full post »

I said goodbye to my daughter yesterday. Watched her hand her boarding pass over to the flight attendant and walk the plank to the Delta flight waiting to take her some 7,000 miles away. She's off to visit family in Israel and she'll be gone a month. Four long… Read full post »

I'm not 25 anymore. Or 35. Or even 45. I'll stop there. I'm trying to be accepting about this getting older thing. But it's hard. A lot harder in reality than it sounded in the abstract even 10 or 15 years ago.

I've taken a few steps to soften the… Read full post »

In addition to spending way too much time on OS, I also have a problem with author and agent blogs. Constantly scanning, looking for the secret to writing and publishing success. Anyway, I was reading Editorial Ass's blog (the blog title sort of vents the frustration of all published and un… Read full post »

Just thought I'd check to see if any of the bloggers here had plans to attend the BlogHer conference scheduled for August 6-7 in NYC. I've decided to cash in some frequent flyer miles, combine the conference with a visit with a good friend, a Black Eyed Peas concert (that's another… Read full post »