Some years ago, my sister Kathy, finagled me into a road trip to see some relatives in Arkansas...this trip had an ulterior motive...she detoured us to Texas for a certain...personal connection there...say no more.

 It was one of those sisterly trips that take on a life of it's own, on the… Read full post »

I come here too seldom to expect to be welcomed into the bosom of OS...but I admire and like many folks around here, and  it is always a sort of lifeline to reality and perspective.  A microcosm of the greater world, and a place to exercise that last bastion of the… Read full post »

I was heartbroken upon reading the recent account of the young Irish girl who hung herself to escape the intense bullying and harrassment she encountered in her first year at a U.S. high school.  See Phoebe Prince's tragic story here: http://www.salon.com/life/teenagers/index.html?story=/mwt/fea… Read full post »

I have not written in a very long while here, and this post is something I figure I can write about with conviction.  I am so addicted to reading, that since I got my Kindle last fall, I carry it with me just about everywhere.  Books are the most weighty item… Read full post »

Alas for anyone who might have read my entire 5 post blog, it must seem I am the laziest of persons; and 'struth, I can't deny it when it comes to writing.  I just have such a fully engaging life this autumn in the "meat world"!

 So, here goes an… Read full post »

 Mindfulness.  The Sanskrit word for it is sm'Rti, which could be translated as "that which is remembered" or variously as "reminiscence", "remembrance" or "calling to mind".   Of course it refers to the practice of meditation, but can also just mean calling to mind one's inner di… Read full post »

'Tis Me! ^

When last I wrote, leaving my 10 readers languishing...my younger self (see above..my hubby politely fuzzed out my name when scanning the photo, but it's me) was about to enter the "halls of Montezuma", so to speak.  So, shall we continue the joyride?

Our… Read full post »

 The heart is a bloom, it shoots up from the stony ground...--U2                                       &nb… Read full post »

He tells me that a lot.  He got it from the Sundance Kid.  Remember the scene where Etta Place (Katharine Ross) is disrobing in her room, and Sundance murmurs softly from the shadows, where he has been hiding..."Keep goin' teacher lady"... ?  My husband tells me it is the first truly… Read full post »

I am a Marine Corps veteran.  That's a fact that most people would never guess to look at me.  I am mild mannered, peace-loving and chubby/cuddly.  I am as liberal as they come: a Dead Head in my youth, a hippy by predilection and a seeker for… Read full post »

I couldn't wait to respond to Feathered Thing's call for our favorite poems.  This is better than chocolate or enchiladas or cheesecake...well maybe not cheesecake, Freaky...

First up is Wallace Stevens.  Can you believe that this guy sold insurance for a living?!  How about that? … Read full post »

It's captivating.  I first felt that captivity when I wandered into the electronics store to replace my VCR, which had swallowed my Cindy Crawford workout tape. Mundane.  I loved the trip-hop soundtrack to that tape, and had lost over 30 pounds to its hypnotic sway.  (susceptible much?… Read full post »