This morning, on Good Morning, America, we were introduced to Florence Colgate, the girl who beat out 8,000 other women to become the ultimate natural beauty in Britain.  This girl is so gorgeous it’s staggering.  She looks like she has makeup on, blushing cheeks, perfectly colored li… Read full post »

I recently read an essay in The Journal, the literary magazine at Ohio State University, and it set off a tirade of my own: 

http://thejournalmag.org/archives/1280

I am an award winning essayist, and I have a lot of problems with the way Mike Daisey presented not only his facts,… Read full post »

Tomorrow I have to get a tooth out.  Now, I'm sure when most people get a tooth out, they just go to the oral surgeon, relax, get knocked out, and then go about their business.  Me, I'm so allergic to anesthetic, I go into total panic mode.  I… Read full post »

From a conversation my husband and I had during a recent trip when three motorcyclists screeched to a halt in front of me suddenly in the middle of a four-way intersection:

Him:  You should have hit the horn.

Me:  Gasp, gasp.  Uh, I was busy slamming on the brakes.… Read full post »

 Conversation with my dogs:

Seriously?  You want to go out?  You do know it's below freezing, right?

It's too hot in here, you hairless infidel.

I'm trying to protect you.  They say bring in your pets and plants.

We have a couch.  We have a utility room. … Read full post »

Sometimes I'll hear a song on the radio and I just have to have that song.  I want to listen to it over and over, burn it into my brain.  In most cases, it's because the song makes me recall something in the past, but sometimes, I just fall in love… Read full post »

I don't know if it's me or the  pod people.  I'm involved with three small genre-specific writers' pods and some of our writers are so, so talented it's amazing.  But lately they've been expressing a character's actions in a way I find totally unbelievable.  And I'm wondering… Read full post »

I just want to write all this down before I forget about it.  What a blissful couple of weeks I’ve had, and how fortunate I am.  I finally had some time off, the first time in over 25 years that I’ve had time off prior to Christmas.  Usually… Read full post »

I'm starting to get into walking again, and it's killing me.  Why does it take so long to get IN shape but so short a time to get OUT of shape.

There was a confluence of bad timing - I had some feet problems, our dance classes stopped… Read full post »

Doing a lot of walking lately to get rid of holiday calories.  Today I walked the Bolen Bluff trail at lunch (cold out there!)  and listened to the book "How the Hippies Saved Physics," by David Kaiser.  Beautiful walk.

As I walked, I remembered an incident that happened many years ago… Read full post »

I want to put this on public record.  I'll be hanging out at the local high school this winter.  With snacks.  Cat treats.  I am going to try to catch Jolly Roger if it kills me.

Jolly Roger is a very distinctive looking cat, very large, who escaped… Read full post »

Start by choosing a plot line. In my case I decide to write about a very elaborate lie my ex husband once told me about a man he was jealous of.  In retrospect the lie was funny in a sick sort of way. Possibly would make a humorous… Read full post »

When my son was about sixteen, we were driving home from school one hot afternoon and we passed a girl washing her van.  The girl was standing on a step-stool, covered in white suds, her long black hair loose and flowing down her back, her little bikini leaving… Read full post »

My daughter, Jessica, is about to deliver our first grandchild.  He could come any day now.  I'm going crazy waiting for him to be born.  I teased her on Facebook the other day that she was driving me crazy taking so much time to have this baby.  But the truth… Read full post »

My husband Ken’s  band played on the Bo Diddley Plaza last Friday night as part of the City of Gainesville Cultural Affairs program.  The band, Uncle Morty’s Rhythm Cream, was fantastic, especially given the extraordinary circumstances that occurred while they were playing. … Read full post »

I come from a family of addicts.  Some of us are addicted to music, some are addicted to romance, some are addicted to nature.  I had an eighty-year-old grandmother who almost fell off a mountain once trying to gather the flowers she was addicted to. 

Unfortunately, some of us… Read full post »

I’ve always loved the song, “Boys of Summer,” by Don Henley, former Eagles member.  Henley wrote the song and Mike Campbell, who played guitar with Tom Petty for many years, wrote the music.  Maybe the reason I love it so much is that the haunting guitar strains bring… Read full post »

We're redoing the middle bedroom so we can have a guest room again. This involves going through hundreds of boxes of junk, keeping this, throwing that out, giving away those.  What a pain. 

First my daughter got married and left a bunch of junk.  Then my son,… Read full post »

Oh, it just gets more complicated.  My son called a little while ago and said he'd love to see the real pictures of a dead bin Laden.  He wants to see the video!  He is fascinated by the whole scenario - how the SEALS found bin Laden, whether… Read full post »

My son called me from Ground Zero just after midnight last night.  He was standing in a jubilant crowd of excited New Yorkers celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden.  You could hear the excitement in his voice and the shouts of "U.S.A., U.S.A." in the background.

 I had just hea… Read full post »

Today there is too much going on and I don't know how I'm going to keep track of ANY of it.  I kept waking up in the middle of the night trying to find out what was happening in Alabama and all I got was the royal wedding… Read full post »

He not busy being born is busy dying. (From It's all right, Ma, I'm only Bleeding, By Bob Dylan)

I went to church today with my daughter and her mother-in-law.  We had to leave a little early because Junior, who is now the size of an avacado, is apparently very sensitive to incense.&nb… Read full post »

Went line dancing this evening.  If anyone had ever told me that Miss Klutz would be line dancing, I'd have said they were crazy.  Granted, I am the one the other dancers help.  When I'm dancing I hear whispers around me, "Left.  Now quarter turn.  Right."  And I just do… Read full post »

I went to the doctor the other day and discovered that my co-pay has increased - again.  Seems like it just increased recently.  My husband and I both work at a major university.  It used to be that when a married couple came to UF, they got free… Read full post »