I got my period today, a week early. This is just the second time that's happened, and it wasn't pleasant (like it usually is!). Since I gather this is a symptom of menopause, it made me think about menopause, I mean, well, I did turn fifty last year, so, well, yeah.
… Read full post »

Men and women.  They like each other, sort of. They want to get together. I guess. But there are so many darn obstacles.  Well, after years of careful observation, and no actual studies whatsoever, I've  developed what I believe to be a pretty comprehensive set of tools to help th… Read full post »

I've never seen a facelift that severe and that close up in my life.

She looked maybe sort of 40 years old, but wore sunglasses so I couldn't see her eyes.

Katherine Helmond's character, Mrs. Ira Lowry, in “Brazil” came to mind.

Her hands, though, tremors and all, spoke the truth.… Read full post »

Ya see? DO YOU SEE?? That this is the stuff that has me laughing and crying at the same time?? Every minute that I don't see something like this is a precious moment in time when I can pretend that everything's going to be fine. But then it all comes crashing… Read full post »

I’m not sure exactly how old I was when I asked my mother, “Why do people need money?”  I do remember very clearly that we were walking through the parking lot of our apartment building to our car.  A blue late model Oldsmobile. Our apartment was on a block filled up… Read full post »

Ursula (not her real name) comes into my store a few years ago, only slightly more hangdog than usual.  She’s a sweet woman, clearly intelligent and, unlike most in the area I live in, very delicate, feminine, but somehow she seems to wear her qualities like bruises.

In fact, unless I&rsquo… Read full post »

There will always be stuff that makes a whole lot of sense to some people and no sense at all to other people, like me. Years ago, I was married, and it was not good.  It was really bad.  One of the things that made it bad was that he didn’t… Read full post »

It’s so small, it’s barely there.  But I always need to know where it is, and that it’s still around.  It’s the pacifier that came with the baby that you can buy (or used to be able to buy) for Barbie, even though I have no idea whether or not Barbie… Read full post »

I sell these fancy-ass European “paper clips.”   There is a lot of shit that you can buy these days. Lots.  Way too much.  But I sell “paper clips.”   All kinds.  And boy, will these “paper clips” change your life!!  They will mak… Read full post »

Now that it's official, (or as official as it can be, as it's in its "trial" stage) I'd like to say a few words about my AMAZING AND THOROUGHLY UNEXPECTED loan modification!

 ("Look how gorgeous it is!  So, this is what it's like to hold one of these...Who'd think they were… Read full post »

My daughter writes.  She is very talented, for her age.  (She’s thirteen.)  I’m happy about this, but also a bit cautious, as her father is/was a “writer”. … Read full post »

 This is not art.  This is "personal reportage".  Not sure what the difference is sometimes, but I am pretty sure this isn't art.

 Last week I felt the need to write about how incredibly convoluted and frustrating dealing with my mortgage holder has been over the last several year… Read full post »

House

I “own” a house. I own this house.  I “bought” this house a few years ago, when “owning” something made more sense (to most people) than not owning something.  Maybe this really didn’t make sense, but I don’t have a very firm grasp of fin… Read full post »

In an effort to continue my long history of starting things I don't finish, I've decided to "start a food-based business". 

 I started teaching myself guitar, because I really love music, and I really love being able to play music with my awesome boyfriend.  But I stopped.

 I sta… Read full post »

So according to Pitchfork Media, the Decemberists new album has a song with a reference to David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which I own and a few years ago I tried to read, really I did.  I tried and tried and tried until it occurred to me that maybe it wasn't… Read full post »

That's not really the title of this. 

The real title didn't fit. 

I was going to call it "The Title Doesn't Fit" up there, but I changed my mind.

Here's the real title:

home

sitting on my five year old daughters bed every night after reading her to sleep

listening to the little mermaid

part of your world

not my world

imagining another reality:

not afraid to leave that warm room

not afraid to come home after work… Read full post »

Shalom!  It's "that" time of year again!....

Temple Beth Alef Beta Zeta Tau of Greater Upper Central Lunsford City, North Dakota, will soon be holding our Annual "Holiday Pig Roast" for all of our soon-to-be friends in town (or any of our regular congregants).  (That's  you, Uncle Murr… Read full post »

a haiku

untitled

 i did it again?
“the peanut butter is wrong!”
what a sick (fat) fuck

free verse 

(il)logic

obsessed with chemical additives and preservatives;
obsessed with micro-organisms;
obsessed with carcinogens.

(a type of hypochondria?)

our food must be organic (not/… Read full post »

well.  in my old life, i was severly unhappy in a marriage to probably the un-sexiest living, dead, undead, asleep, awake, etc. man in the entire history of mankind.  i know that sounds totally like an exaggeration.  but at the risk of being "inappropriate", i will say that, well, y'kn… Read full post »

Are "blogs" supposed to be like written daily or something? Well, I don't think that's going to happen, and I'm really sorry about that but I am a SINGLE PARENT with a FULL TIME JOB. Doing this is like a luxury item for me. The equivalent of having my NAILS DONE.… Read full post »

There have been few moments in my life like this, and none as quite so touching and full of unforgettable poignancy, as when my beautiful, smart, and funny twelve-year old turned to me in the car and asked me if I would "add me as 'your daughter' on Facebook?"