I just read a post called Gang Rape on Open Salon and it's written by one of my Favorites, Diary of a Hopeful Starving Student.

Posted at 10:14 a.m. today and comments were closed by 10:30.  

So I can't go to the source with my burning question:  "How exactly does… Read full post »

Occasionally I test my sons, to make sure I’ve schooled them in the right ways of good men.  Especially the more nuanced right ways.  Since their father is deceased, this burden has fallen on me. 

I find the best method is to catch them off guard, when they’re involved in… Read full post »

I met Nancy in a three-week program we both attended last December.  It was for women only, specifically, women who wanted to change their lives.  Nancy sat across from me and I liked her right away.  Of all the women there, she seemed the most like me.  She was about my/… Read full post »

Any time I hear the phrase "Family Values" something deep down inside makes me want to retch. I tell myself it's because hearing it makes me think of intolerant, close-minded, God-fearing, Christian right wing politicians.  

But if I'm being honest, maybe I'm afraid I don't have any m… Read full post »

A few years ago I was desperately trying to get out of a dead end, soul-sucking call center job before I got too complacent and ended up dying, mid-call, with my headset on. After much soul searching, I decided there was only one way to assume command of my future, including… Read full post »

It's long been an accepted notion that children and young people have a greater capacity for dealing with stressful events.

Many of us have heard or said the following phrases at one time or another. 

"Don't worry about him, kids are resilient."

"She's young; she'll bounce back."… Read full post »

It sure is getting noisy around here!

Why does it seem like everyone is so darned mad these days?  Not just on Open Salon, but everywhere.

Rage seems to be the new calm.  Or at least an alternative that's rapidly gaining in popularity.  The smallest things are enough to cause some… Read full post »

In one of those rare, blindingly insightful moments that usually only happens when I smack my head with a car door (okay, it's neither rare nor insightful, but it is blindingly painful), I made a shocking discovery the other day regarding the problem with American youth. 

Like many others, I&rs… Read full post »

There were too many invitations and not enough time.  I couldn't possibly choose one over the other; the hosts of all those other soirees that I didn't attend would have found out and been slighted.  And then there'd have been the question of whom to kiss when the clock gonged the… Read full post »

I did the usual things I've been doing for the past 12 Christmas Eves.  I baked, wrapped, and cleaned.  Yelled, a little bit.  One child serenaded me with Christmas songs on her violin (or so she said; I had to take her word for it) while the other one yelled "Booo,… Read full post »

What a difference a year makes. 

December, 1999.  A week before Christmas, we were nearly to his boss’s front door when Keith stopped.  It was a cold, clear night.  The house glowed, warm and inviting.  Good cheer and good times beckoned from all the windows. … Read full post »

I think too much.  About only one subject.  Me.  My feelings, my wants, my needs, my endless craving for having my ego stroked.

I always thought it was normal to think exclusively about myself.  In fact, I assumed everyone else was also doing the same - constantly thinking about m… Read full post »

She is 75 years old today.  

The average life expectancy for an American is currently 77.6 years; for the average white female the figure is 80.5 years. That's good news.  It means she's not living on borrowed time yet and I've got at least five and half years left.  Of… Read full post »

I'll just say it.  I love to smoke.  I can go for days and months and even years without doing it, with only minor withdrawal symptoms.  But it's also ridiculously easy for me to start up again and any flimsy excuse will do:  The sun's not shining bright enough.  I think… Read full post »

Several years ago I had a trusty handyman.  He looked like a handyman, he talked like a handyman and he did excellent handyman-type work.   

I found Mike, or maybe he found me, in a Sears hardware store.  He mixed paint for me and we got to talking.  He said he'd been… Read full post »

For the 26th time since 1985 the people have spoken.  The people at People magazine, anyway, who've crowned Bradley Cooper 2011's "Sexiest Man Alive." Brad assumes the mantle of being "the benchmark of male attractiveness" and based on his pictures, he's got the shoulders, abs and/… Read full post »

In the scheme of things it wasn’t so bad.  They’d seen worse, of course they had.  Lots worse.  That’s what I told myself.  It wasn’t that bad.  I wasn’t that bad.

For reasons unknown even to myself, I’ve been driving with a suspended lice… Read full post »

It wasn't the job of my dreams but it was a full time job, with benefits, and that's all that mattered.  

It was the early 1980's.  I was 23.  I'd graduated with an English degree and not much else and I had to find work quickly.  The student loan bills… Read full post »

Another blessed event is being visited on Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, God's most favored procreators. No, Michelle hasn't won the Breeders' Cup.  They recently announced Duggar #20 is in the works.

Just thinking about it makes my ovaries ache.

I can't imagine an appropriate response. "… Read full post »

 This post was inspired by and is dedicated to the delightful and most definitely un-Champ-like Georgie Emmerling, James Emmerling's "nephew."

He should have let me get the bird.

When we were about to buy a house after years of living in apartments that didn’t allow pets, I confide… Read full post »

“I almost forgot to tell you; I saw Joe last night,” Keith said, turning toward me as he opened the sliding door that led to the backyard early one Saturday morning in 1998.  He’d be out there all day; he loved working in the yard.

“We talked for a long… Read full post »

Zombies are real, I can attest to it.  I walked with one.  And also lived with, talked with and screamed at one although I didn’t eat with a zombie because just like the movie version, the real thing isn’t interested in food. 

The only thing Hollywood gets right is… Read full post »

It was a strange evening now that I’ve had time to think on it and I wonder if anyone else  felt it.  Maybe strangeness is in the eye, or the mind, of the beholder.  Maybe there’s no such thing.

Last night I helped my friend Tara move into a new… Read full post »

He is clearly the dominant one in the relationship.  When we’re together it’s apparent he keeps me on a very short leash.  He insists I’m physically nearby at all times, jealously competes for my attention, and makes it plain to everyone that I belong to him. It drives him… Read full post »