It started when I was a thirteen-year-old high school freshman. I remember the exact day, in  fact.  I was in health class, taught by Mr. Carr, who was also the soccer coach and, apropos, a weird health nut. He was always extolling the virtues of wheat germ.  He thought fruit wa… Read full post »

 We went to a wedding this weekend in the wine country.  I haven't had a salary in over 2 years and I work 18 hour days and not long ago my best friend's brain tried to explode out of her head and rampage around the country and… Read full post »

I remember when we met, you were walking through the plant and looked up and smiled at me and my face turned fire red and you said, concerend "Aren't you feeling well?" Unaware that I'd been watching you for weeks, and had even bought a dress in voodoo like anticipation… Read full post »

The place I'm from is settled mostly by French and German immigrants who pushed Indians off the land to farm it, a fact that is reflected in the town names: Millstadt, Germantown, Mascoutah, Cahokia,  Kaskaskia, and Belleville ("The Bee-yoo-tiful  Village! my dad would crow as we drove past… Read full post »

Yesterday I was scrolling through my contact file, looking for a business acquaintance, and I came across  your name  and  everything inside of me went still.

You died not quite a year ago. But there your contact card sits, the same as it always has.  Every card in my file… Read full post »

The subject line of this essay is actually something I read by a columnist on Nerve.  It cracked me up, that anyone would really worry about anyone knowing and judging the music you prefer to listen to. I cut him some slack because he was in his 20s and… Read full post »

When you travel a lot for business and you talk to other people who travel a lot for business, there are a lot of stories that start like that one girl from American Pie, the one with the red hair that wasn't supposed to be as sexy as the Russian exchange… Read full post »

This weekend was our first family trip – me, the h, you, the half sister who lives in Miami. Or, as the flight attendant called us, mom and dad and their two girls.  That was fun to hear – my first time being referred to as mom. … Read full post »

this picture taken an hour ago - lookit all the people!

 So I'm in New York for the long holiday weekend.   Manhattan. Today we did what we always do when we come to Manhattan - we walked.  We walked around midtown, we walked over to MOMA for the free day… Read full post »

Once, on a long business trip to Europe, my friend Sue suggested we take advantage of a KLM airline special, which allowed passengers en route from Munich to Houston to spend an extra day and night in the lovely city of Amsterdam.  KLM offered a free hotel room and/… Read full post »

Today I was thinking about senses.  How you can let vision dominate them all, if you’re not careful.  But even if you aren’t careful, even if you mostly perceive the world through your eyes, sometimes smells and sounds will sneak up on you with their unexpe… Read full post »

It is tempting to ask, how’d we get here, only speaking twice a year and even then only when I get on a plane and fly from California to St. Louis, a trip that unfolds exactly the same way every time:

I take the train… Read full post »

1. I sat next to John Goodman on a flight from St. Louis to Los Angeles. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans and was exactly as his character appeared to be on TV.  He was funny and charming and nice and admited to me that he felt depressed/
… Read full post »

1. 1. Because as much as I like the nighttime, I like the daytime too.  I look good with a little tan.

Maybe I’d change my mind if they develop a sunscreen that works for vampires, allowing vampires to walk around during the day, in… Read full post »

As we moved along I… Read full post »

Palindrome's post about her grade school reunion got me thinking about the kids whose names and faces are indelibly printed on my memory.I don't know if strung togehter memories of those children make for a readable story as most of us think of that word, but I'm going… Read full post »

 I’m afraid of menopause. 

There. I said it.

I haven’t had any symptoms of peri-menopause yet.  I admit that if I did, I’d probably go into instant denial.

I’ve read a… Read full post »

There are many dichotomies in which to divide the people of the world.  There are people who own bowling shoes and people that do not. People who eat Haggis, people who do not.   There are people who like the Three Stooges, and those who prefer their humor stoogeless. 

Th… Read full post »

 My memory did not lead me here first, but I found myself returning, again and again, to a vision of this food. It is so fundamental to the enjoyment of the other selections here.  Zesta Saltines – a carrier of/… Read full post »

Patrick Perbolling – Perbs to his friends - shook his head.  In his glasses a twinned image of the television screen jumped from left to right and left again, so that his eyes were momentarily masked by the reflected throngs of ragged faces with their lipless wounds, their peek-aboo bones/… Read full post »

 Billy scuffed his shoes at the weeds leaning in the sidewalk cracks.  He looked again at the letter from Mrs. Maurico, which read  “Mrs. Olivia Anderson” in all capital letters that slashed across the exact white center of the envelope.

“Pl… Read full post »

I know them well.

I started school early - a December baby, the principal said I seemed bright and decided it would be OK to start me early instead of waiting a year.

It would come to be a decision by parents regretted daily. Me - hourly.… Read full post »

 “God, if I ever get that big, shoot me,” you said. 

That was twenty-seven years ago. We were sitting at the new S'barro’s at the mall, taking a break from shopping for a dress. You were not addressing God but rather us, your… Read full post »