The thing about 40

Before turning 40, I heard a lot about it how liberating 40 is. How 40 would bring even more confidence and opportunities. Turning 40 would be like becoming myself—like I did in my 20’s, my 30’s—all over again. It would begin a time to… Read full post »

My son is failing algebra.  As an English major I can’t help him. Well, not in the way I would expect to be able to help him. I would love to be able to open the book, flip to the page and see not the answers, but how… Read full post »

My daughter is a beautiful young woman with thick, dark brown hair; wine colored, almond shaped eyes; creamy, full cheeks and hundreds of other attributes, talents and gifts. When the hair on her head is long, thin and shiny she believes me when I tell her she is beautiful.  When her/… Read full post »

Exes and Oh’s

The other day I met a guy. “I’m a widower and a single father,” he announced. “This is usually the part where women run. Let’s see if you do the same,” he challenged.

 I would bet that most women don’t run because he is/… Read full post »

seduce me

do not squander silences

create of words a cassock

sway me gently

do not write poetry. 

do not speak poetically.

do not ponder in meter or philosophize in line.

do not brood in rhythm or contemplate in rhyme—often.

think

say

mean

don’t speak  … Read full post »

Words seduce me

I do not waste them

I do however squander silences

Despite my passion for creating of words a cassock to sway me gently at night, I do not write poetry. 

That is to say, I do not speak poetically.

I do not ponder in meter or… Read full post »

Over the last few years, my relationship with food has grown infinitely more intimate.

Growing up, food was power.  Oil shaped alliances: My mother couldn’t cook, my grandmother could.  Flour forged allegiances: my mother wanted to become a vegetarian, my grandmother’s fried c/… Read full post »

They say there is a word for everything.

By they

I mean me.

There are some who still believe it.

By some

I mean those who still endeavor to transcribe teardrops

Those not yet fluent in goodbye.

There are words.

One thousand intricate ways to say goodbye.… Read full post »

Medicine always makes me feel better—especially when I don’t take it.

I have my Aunt Cliss—Great Aunt Cliss—to thank for that.  Growing up we didn’t think she was so great. She didn’t seem to have patience for my sister or me. And so, we devised ways to annoy… Read full post »

I realize it’s unnatural.  This fascination I have with publishing my thoughts online as if people are less apt to find them has become an addiction of sorts.

I expect to be heard when I speak, to be listened to when I utter, to be read when I write.  But, when… Read full post »

Ok, so maybe scared is the wrong word.  Hesitant, nervous, unsure, intimidated by…those might be a bit more accurate.

I ordered the Sprint Intercept sometime last week.  I’ve had it now for two days and have yet to take everything out of the box.  I will—soon./… Read full post »

I worry I don’t know how to parent a 15 year-old young woman. 

I have been one.  I have known some.  But now that I’m raising one, it all seems different. 

When I was 15, I was in to boys—well, young men and their bourgeoning attentions.  My friend—a… Read full post »

There are some conversations that get easier to have the more often you have them—death isn’t one of them.

This weekend I woke up to quiet.

Unexpected, somewhat jolting, my three children, dog, cat, presumably the leopard gecko were sleeping and so was—it would seem for… Read full post »

“Great information, can I reference this for my site and link back to you?”

Compliments are probably one of the fastest ways to get your comment approved on my blog.  So, likely my ego will be my cyber downfall.

When I began looking for a full-time English faculty positio… Read full post »

I don’t look down when I walk.

I look in front of me, around me, sometimes behind me, but I don’t look down when I walk.  Probably, this says a lot about me: where I’m going, how I got there.

Last week I was helping a friend move—if we are… Read full post »

We are there to pick up books. Not cozy mysteries, romantic thrillers, young adult dramas, or preschool serials. Just books: free books.

I admit free is part of the fantasy.

And, there is a fantasy. The moment I read about the Book Thing—a warehouse stuffed easel to easel with book… Read full post »

2 feet of snow.

Outside of my back window, icicles slowly drip, snow glistens, trees bend.  Occasionally a squirrel—a reckless naysayer no doubt—rushes up a heavy branch.

Out front, my children, neighbors and I have piled two feet of snow into treacherous mounds of four or five feet,… Read full post »

Lately, I have been trying to communicate more. With friends, family and colleagues, I have a tendency to communicate in doses.

So, when I decided to join the community of blogger—about a year after I started blogging—it was somewhat cautiously.

I started by commenting on other writers&r… Read full post »

Maybe it’s the winter.

For some reason—and I doubt it’s a flattering one—something about the sunless, cold mornings, the dreary days or the bitter nights, reminds people of me.

And, not in a flattering way.

The deeper the snow, the lower the temperature, the… Read full post »

I don’t tend to view moves emotionally. 

 In my experience, they have always been for positive reasons—even if I didn’t understand them at the time. As an adult, I’ve been blissfully emotionally and physically unavailable throughout my moves.  I can barely… Read full post »

Each year, retailers hope to entice people to part with their money in ever more seductive ways: free upgrades, bundles, instant rebates, discounts.

This year as Wanda and I plotted our Black Friday recession strategy, there was one thing we had not planned on—bigger crowds.

It wasn… Read full post »

I could have said yes.  

I could have said, I will take this glossy eight-page brochure filled with artsy wrapping paper, cutesie pizza kits, and hardened sausage that no one I know actually eats, and peddle it office to office, client to client, colleague to colleague to convince unsuspect… Read full post »

I do not live without attachments.

I am not free to follow my dreams, wherever they lead unencumbered by the hopes of others, the responsibilities of realities, the tassels of life.

There are few of us so transient or selfish or lacking longitude and latitude that we are able to… Read full post »

Whether it’s the top ten reasons couples stay together, the top ten reasons couples break up, the top five reasons he isn’t in to you, or the top five reasons you aren’t in to him, if it’s on your mind (or not), there’s a list for it.

I like, love, or… Read full post »