So I was cleaning stuff up today & thought, Hey, didn't I write a post last March about cleaning up my garage & my office & the closets?  And didn't this post have pictures & everything?

Sure enough, I check back & there it is, "before" photos of all the clutter… Read full post »

(kind of the view from "behind" -- turkey, cat, Dr. Suess tree, oaks)

(I was going to make this a picture-story kind of deal, but I have to bowl tomorrow & I should be in bed & I've already had to retype this twice because of "technical difficulties."  So… Read full post »

Didn't we just have birthdays like a couple of months ago?  If it's already March & your birthday, that means April & my birthday aren't far behind.  I liked the sound of 60 well enough, but 61 sounds ancient.  Lucky you, you're a mere 59.  I remember the good old days… Read full post »

(The point of the photo is this:  Clearly a gravestone, sad & all, but behind it, gorgeous blue sky!) 

The 4th of January will be my official 3rd year here on Open Salon.  My first piece, nervously posted, was something like 25 Things About Me, & the… Read full post »

I am an okay writer & all, but I am not a poet.  Which I am cool with, as it leaves me open to love & enjoy poetry without beating myself up for not being, say, Sharon Olds, or Mary Oliver or Billy Collins or the writer of this… Read full post »

I'm having trouble getting into the Christmas Spirit this year.  I made the big Thanksgiving dinner, as usual, but forgot to take the annual Family Picture On The Deck.  I think I was afraid that all of us on the deck smiling would just drive home the fact that… Read full post »

My beautiful sister & her lost boys.

Well, God knows, I can't turn this into a post about "me" but I am sad & grieving & I have the shittiest cold in the world & a fever of 102 & I can barely breathe & I'm all snotty &… Read full post »

November's bright colors & glowing light are wasted on my family right now. My sweet 39-year-old nephew is in ICU, on life support, with the tiniest inch of a chance at sticking around here with the rest of us.  And none of us knows what to do exactly.  When my sister… Read full post »

A BEFORE picture of my garage.   I don't have an AFTER picture, as I haven't actually cleaned it out yet.  It looks rather spacious in this photo, as I have smeared my camera lens with Vaseline.  It worked for Barbara Walters.

Here is my "office,"… Read full post »

(It's my sister's birthday & I have been trying since 9PM last night to get this stupid post written & am on like my 10th time because the stupid-ass thing won't post!  Sigh.  Last year I wrote her a birthday blog.  Maybe I should just repost it.  Except I don't know… Read full post »

After reading the list of Salon's Men On Top, I realize that I am now officially ancient, as I don't know who half these guys are, & none of them remotely sets off my libido alarm.

I love Brian Wilson as much as any Giants fan, but he reminds me… Read full post »

I just got back from like 10 hours of driving from Oregon & tomorrow I have to get up early to bowl & take an elderly friend to her doctor appointments, but this open call is too good to pass up so here goes...

1.  Occasionally, when riding behind my husband… Read full post »

It doesn't help that my daughter's dog died. Well, not so much died, but was killed. Alison came home with the adorable grandsons & they found Rico at the gate where he always waited to be let in after digging his way out of the yard in search… Read full post »

So I read that stupid Francis Lam article about killing the rooster & it really upset me so I spent like all morning writing this article about how I've been a vegetarian since I was 19 & how wonderful it is to be a vegetarian & how pigs are smart &… Read full post »

So I'm really depressed tonight & I've had two glasses of wine & no way am I going to get enough sleep & I have to bowl tomorrow which means I'll probably suck OR I'll get into the zone because I'm so exhausted & being all exhausted means I won't think… Read full post »

1. Make a difference, even a difference that seems minor in the grand scheme of things, and even though you still don't get that whole suffering deal.

2. Stop whining about having no time to write, even it if IS true.  It's calm in the grave, and prisoners write… Read full post »

Sultry afternoon.  Dive bar.  Third barstool down, he winks.  I nod, he stumbles to my side, leans in, breath all Jim Beam & cigarettes.

"Hey, girl, you look like you care."

I shrug. 

He's pity party drunk.  Slurred words.  "Today's my daughter's birthday.  I a… Read full post »

Truth is, I have never been much of a flower fan.  Yeah, they're pretty & all, but you have to plant them & that is SO much work & I'm not very good at it, meaning I drop the seeds into the ground & nothing comes up.  I've… Read full post »

 Okay...I confess...I HAVE no legacy on OS.  Granted, I've been here for over a year & I write maybe once a month, but I haven't changed any lives or gained a reputation, as in, SHE's the one who writes the (fill in the blank).  I don't even have a clever nickname.… Read full post »

Oh, look, it's 1956 & we are adorable, even with the geeky bangs.  I've got the dark hair,, you're the blonde.  I'm the oldest, but you're already taller than me.  There are only two of us & Mom & Dad are still married so they blow the big bucks… Read full post »

My ex-mother-in-law taught me how to make soup beans.

Evelyn was the Queen-of-feeding-a-large-group-of-hungry-men-on-the-cheap.  My father-in-law, Clell, the kindest most uncomplaining man in the entire world, was a farm laborer.  In 1970 he made $1.65 an hour, & he worked long hard hou… Read full post »

Yeah, it's looking like Spring here.  And I have plans today.  I'm going to get to all that crap in the garage that needs to be tossed.  I'm going to vacuum the old cat's room & hang that "Texas" movie poster in the living room & clean up the… Read full post »

My mom died on November 28th, peacefully.  My brother & I, at her side,  had moments earlier shared a philosophical discussion regarding the decline of country music, which then segued into how much he loves guitars & classical music.

In other words, we bored my mother to death.

And… Read full post »

AAAGGGHHH!  I just spent two freaking hours writing this heartfelt edited flowing piece about my MOTHER DYING! & when I hit Save Draft & Preview the whole freaking thing disappeared & the asshole Salon whatEVER made me LOG IN AGAIN & type dumbass crooked words so that they could… Read full post »

Mom is still hanging in there.  Miserable & pissed, she alternates between proclaiming there IS no God to begging God to kill her.  She swears like the construction workers she used to work with, & threatens to call the police whenever anyone tries to wash her.

Last night every half… Read full post »