"Go out there...and make smoke come from those gloves. You can make smoke, boy. Just don't let up." Yank Durham, Joe Frazier's trainer  (That pep talk  created the nickname 'Smokin' Joe).

Another legend has left us. Not a rock star or a corporate genius or a… Read full post »

I grew up in an ultra Liberal home. We were taught early and often the importance of equality and tolerance for all. No racial or religious slurs or jokes allowed, we were raised Enlightened, accepting of all creeds, cultures, beliefs. And to be what was called… Read full post »

It's been an amazing week. Historic. I'm proud of our president, our military, our country. Republicans in Congress and many of the media, especially the naysayers ... not so much.

If you're as fed up as I am with the overabundance of idiocy coming from pundit's mouths and the sheer… Read full post »

"It's important to tell the people you love how much you love them while they can hear you."  Meredith Grey

Karen died. She's gone from my life forever. Those two simple sentences shock me, mock me. They make me cry. The pain is still so sharp it takes
… Read full post »

We're superstitious in my family. I bet you are too. Not the best trait to pass on to our children. We try to keep it casual, natural. Our goodbyes, for example, whether in person, on the phone, even text, always end with, "I love you." "I love you too."… Read full post »

 cnbc.com

"The minute I heard that there had been an accident at a nuclear facility, I knew we were in another dimension." PA Governor Richard Thornburgh

Japan has been pounded by two gigantic natural disasters. And now the country has entered another dimension as… Read full post »

Valentines's Day is dangerous. It spreads the disease chick-flick-itis. Which fosters expectations of The Grand Gesture. Candy. Flowers. Poetry. A candlelit dinner. Jewelry. A lover sweeping you off your feet.

All that pressure, somebody's gonna get hurt.

I know it all too well. O… Read full post »

My very first online screen name was 'Honey.' Yep, just one word. My email address would have been honey@aol.com, but nobody used dot com emails in the early 1990's. Nobody used real names either, just screen names. Many of
… Read full post »

 "If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance...to try to tell America about a dream that I had had." Martin Luther King, Jr

There's a sickness in this country. We keep getting hit with it, over and over. There's no vaccine, apparently no cure or true desire for one.… Read full post »

Is there an American anywhere who doesn't instantly recognize this scene as "post Thanksgiving dinner coma"? (Karen's, last year)

For as long as I can remember, our family's Thanksgivings have been either a curse or a blessing. Sometimes both. If you think about it, that's pretty much the/… Read full post »

  © TODD HEISLER/ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

"I had other priorities in the 60's than military service." Dick Cheney

Veterans Day. The perfect time for Dick Cheney to nail patriotism to the outhouse wall. I got a fascinating email today that's additionally germane, what with former President… Read full post »

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future." Gail Lumet Buckley

Although I am creative by nature, I have no 'artistic' ability in any traditional form, not painting, sculpture, photography, clothes, jewelry. "Art" does not take s… Read full post »

I am now connected to the Clinton Dynasty by three degrees of separation. Or is it two? I'm not so good at math, but as an ad agency marketing whiz, I once worked for and with Chelsea's new in-laws, Ed Mezvinsky and the former Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky.

… Read full post »

"Life, as I had known it, was gone forever. I became someone else through all the emotional ups and downs and then to how do I spend the rest of my life."

Four years ago today, on July 16, 2006, my sister Judy's husband Bob was… Read full post »

My father and little me, in the brief before.

"If you can't tell me what you want, I can't serve you. It's up to you. If you can't read, if you can't say the word cheese, how can I communicate with you - and why should I have to bend? I got a business… Read full post »

Advertising reflects popular culture, ideas, prejudices. It also helps define and validate them. The rules are still pretty much the same. Identify a fad or a need, position your product to support it. Then sell it with sex, greed, fear or loathing.

It apparently started in biblical times.

I… Read full post »

Debate assisted suicide all you want. Make your theoretical arguments, your moral and ethical objections, parse the symantics. Knock yourself out with self-righteous claims about right and wrong. Unless you've been there, god forbid, deep inside the pain and suffering and despair, you really don't… Read full post »

"There's no damn business like show business -- you have to smile to keep from throwing up." Billie Holiday

He's as big as it gets. Bigger than George Clooney. The Boss. Madonna. Bigger even than Barney. Letterman mocked him in a monologue, so you know he's important (video below).… Read full post »

It's no secret I'm a longtime, loyal, committed ER fan. Yes, the series is over, but we'll always have reruns. Except ... Not. So. Fast. ER has been pulled from TV, leaving me jonesing for a solid, watchable medical drama.

The pickings are slim.

(Okay, in the beginning… Read full post »

I had an idea, so I put my gag reflex on hold and Google'd "tea party" to see if I was right. And there they were in all their self-righteous "I'm A… Read full post »

"Father, can I talk to you about becoming a nun?"

"Certainly, my child, come into the rectory and take off your clothes."
===============

"Father, have you molested young teenage girls?"

"Such a harsh term, Bishop. They look up to me. Especially on their knees."

"Well, thank go… Read full post »

Raising a family in today's tough economic climate isn't easy. Guess what? It's never been easy, except for the rich. In our family we have The Legend of Mrs. Swift as guidance.

So, herein I present the Savings Stylings of my late mother-in law. They are all 100 per… Read full post »

My childhood was sadly lacking in heroes. Or even kind, decent men. Our father was a disturbed, angry alcoholic. A few nice uncles maybe, not often seen. My mother's own loving father more than fit the bill, but diabetes and a bad heart condition kept him from filling the… Read full post »