iPods creep me out. There, I said it.

Am I the only one pissed off about this new requirement that I must master a new mode of technology every time I just want to have a few jollies?  

I can pinpoint the exact moment I knew my career was gurgling down the drain: October, 2008.

As a small-time publisher for eight of the twenty years I worked as a reporter and editor, I often went without a salary in order to make sure the folks who… Read full post »

I got the job.

So why do I feel like throwing up? Well, that’s because that’s what I was doing the last time I taught composition to college students.

I was a grad student at Eastern Washington who managed to meet, move in with, marry, and become impregnated by… Read full post »

“Slower!” she squealed.

“Baby, I’m going to ride you like Tiger Wood’s golf cart!” he hollered. She pointed out he already was. Riding, that is.

“I mean Tiger Wood’s golf cart--if it had a bad transmission!” he amended breathlessly.

Her hips… Read full post »

Fifteen albums from Mark Trost’s open call…thanks Mark.

Peter Gabriel: Security. I was lucky enough to have dated an amazing musician in high school, and I have two very close male friends who have considered it their personal mission in life to save my ear.… Read full post »

I have a job interview tomorrow.

I freak out in job interviews.

I don’t know if being a writer (read: self-conscious idiot) dooms one to a complicated social life, but I have always sucked at high-pressure must-leave-good-first-impression situations.

This has always mystified me, because I s… Read full post »

On the way east to Kahlotus on State Route 26 here in central Washington, I insisted we stop so I could get some photos of what was originally supposed to be… Read full post »

As the great unwashed and washed alike head into another election cycle, some fear that rising unemployment and general unrest will cause a major shift in the shell game we call government.

But never fear, folks. There doesn't appear to be anything powerful enough at this point to overthrow… Read full post »

I’ve been trying to write about what it was like to be at the helm of a bankrupting community newspaper, but I can’t. Not yet. Too bad I can’t file for disability benefits thanks to PTND (Post-Traumatic Newspaper Disorder).

Almost all journalists have some outlandish stories to tel… Read full post »

I’ve read a few snarky comments about meta-posting about OS and how it’s discouraged as it's a way to get lots of people to look at your post. But I’m sorry, I’ve just got to, people…I could give a crap about ratings. I’ve endured this I’ve-come-in-at-the-mi… Read full post »

Frankly, the last election was seriously lacking in some elements I’d like to see in an American race. A certain warmth. Fuzziness. A cuddle-worthy purr.

That’s why I’m voting for Otto in the 2012 election, and not just because I’m related to him.

Otto’s story… Read full post »

The glowing mosquitoes add a nice touch to this photo, don't you think?

August on the farm means pigweed high enough for the ducks and chickens to hide in. It means sighing in resignation when the two neighbor boys pop over to yammer at me for… Read full post »

I’m still strong enough

to hold you up in the rain

my hands in your shorts,

face pressed into your slick back.

Your weakening knees my prize. Read full post »

I’m not a good cook. I’m an exceptional cook.

Being a good cook isn’t that big of a deal. It requires the ability to read and patiently follow directions. I can do the reading thing. I can’t do the patient thing. I leave that to my flaky-crescent-rolls and Chicken… Read full post »

I have sixteen-year-old twin sons who have been driving for six months, which means, of course, that I now have two experts who complain whenever I’m at the wheel.

“You forgot to signal again.”

“I swear whenever you’re driving I get carsick.”

 So I l… Read full post »

A small town in the middle of the eastern Washington desert has become the poster child for America’s failed immigration policies.

Mattawa is a town of about 3,000 located in the lower Columbia Basin. My husband grew up there back in the days when there were only a few… Read full post »

Kids who grew up in Colorado in the late 1970s always knew what they’d be doing on Sunday afternoons. Growing up as a Bronco fan in Denver is like growing up Catholic in Italy. It just happens.

Even if we kids weren’t watching the game, we would… Read full post »

The fascination among the non-hoarders for Those Who Hoard is hard to describe. It’s a siren song of disgust mingled with curiosity.

I went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday with Husband-Man, and I found myself dismayed that the movie shamelessly/… Read full post »

Most of us have a certain mental picture of a farmer—plaid shirt, suspenders, baseball cap. Most of us don’t think of a wild-eyed guy hunched over in the cab of his tractor furtively snuffling lines of blow.

But growing potatoes brings out the worst… Read full post »

After twenty years of living with a rabid outdoorsman, I have figured out the two most pertinent questions for someone who's thinking about tent camping in the rain. They are: 1) How badly will you need to pee? and 2) How much does a fifth wheel cost, again?

I… Read full post »

When I was first diagnosed, my doctor said two things at that first appointment that I couldn't stop thinking about.

The first was: “I’ll be honest with you and tell you I’d rather treat someone with bladder cancer than interstitial cystitis.”

The second was: “Hopeful… Read full post »

This photo illustrates the changes rural America has been going through here in central Washington. Larger, corporate farms, the quiet death of railroad lines, and young people going off to work in the big city have sucked the life out of many small towns here. … Read full post »

The founder of Facebook wants us all to have just one face.

According to NPR correspondent David Kirkpatrick (who spent a lot of time with FB founder Mark Zuckerberg while was working on his new book): “He disagrees with the notion that people have different identities. To him, the… Read full post »

Leave it to Plath to mash the words ennui and jejune into the same poem. Both great words...maybe all great words are ones you don't run into every day. 

I’ve sent resumes to a bunch of different places since I lost my job in April, and it's like being… Read full post »

 What immortal hand or eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

On the way east to Kahlotus on State Route 26 here in central Washington, I insisted we stop so I could get some photos of what was originally supposed to be a pulp tree farm.… Read full post »