I was walking my dog Rosco one morning recently, on our usual route, past the gas station, when he stopped dead and refused to step over a particular patch of sidewalk. I couldn’t blame him. The owner of the gas station had let his blackberry bush grow into a veritable tree, which is now raining…
It’s 1:45 on a Monday afternoon as I write this. School is still in session (for a few more days, at least), and it’s not a holiday of any kind. Yet, for some reason, there are at least 10 people out in my next-door neighbors’ backyard, getting drunk and swimming in the pool. I know…
I love to memorize things. Ever since second grade, when my dad helped me learn all 50 state capitals, I’ve felt strangely powerful when I manage to master a new body of knowledge. Sure, maybe I’ll never use it, but there’s something about having all that information, tucked away in the filing cabinet of your…
I once had a writing client call me, close to tears, on his 33rd birthday. He was upset because he had reached the age Jesus Christ had been at the time of the crucifixion, and (in my author’s words) “I just haven’t done nearly as much as Jesus did!” It was all I could do…
For lots of women, the salon is a luxurious place—a safe haven away from the demands of the real world, where they can shuck off the need to be “Mom” or “wife” or “worker” and just pamper themselves with a blowout or a manicure and feel like a woman. To me? The salon is hell.…
Back when I was married (and fat), I fancied myself a halfway decent cook. My repertoire basically consisted of deep-fried chicken, pasta with alfredo sauce (extra cheesy!), and sandwiches. It seemed like a pretty wide variety to me—but mostly because heavy, fatty foods like those were all my ex-husband and I ate. I look back…
I’ll admit it. Whenever I hear about some writer getting an amazing contract, receiving a massive advance, winning an award, or even getting a halfway decent book review from some random stranger on Amazon, I feel jealous. No, it’s more than that. I seethe with envy. The jealousy tears me up inside, wondering why that…
My friend and fellow Blydyn Square Books author Everett De Morier has a theory when it comes to dogs. He says a purebred dog is carefully created to DO something—whether the job in question is retrieving or hunting or, in the case of the two pugs I had for 15 years, behaving like the Asian…
I have a new dog. Now, in most homes, a new pet is cause for celebration—a new family member to love and enjoy. And yes, there IS some of that. Rosco (my new two-year-old chug—that’s a pug/chihuahua mix) is a great little guy. But for me, there’s sadness behind the novelty and the joy, because…
Please note: I wrote this (and did the “experiment”) a few months ago. I am NOT in imminent danger of alcohol poisoning, nor do I need to be enrolled in a substance abuse program. Got that? Okay, then, read on. 😊 Today, I’m going to be Hemingway, using alcohol in an attempt to unleash the…
I always hear people say that the world moves too fast and how much they wish they could slow things down, stop and smell the roses, yada yada yada. To me? The world feels like the slowest turtle ever to walk the Earth, plodding along at a pace too slow to be seen with the…
One of my favorite pieces of artwork has always been Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Lady with an Ermine. I’m not sure why I like it so much. Maybe it’s because I love da Vinci himself. Leonardo was the ultimate Renaissance Man—dabbling in everything from the art he’s best known for to scientific inventions to theater…
I’ve never been a good sleeper. Even as a child, I don’t recall ever feeling well rested in the morning, and when people talk about “waking up,” I hardly know what they mean. I’m rarely asleep long enough to “wake.” I’m lucky to drift in half-sleep long enough to have part of a disturbing dream…
Lots of people get depressed during the cold winter months—so many, in fact, that there’s a name for it: seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Me? I’m the opposite. I thrive during the dark days of winter but slowly peter down to an inevitable depression every year as the days grown longer and hotter. Maybe it’s…
I was throwing out all my hoarded-up paper and assorted and sundry trash, trying to get myself organized, and vacuuming behind those tough-to-move pieces of furniture the other day when something occurred to me: Why do we do SPRING cleaning? I’m not saying we shouldn’t clean in the spring. Truth be told, I think we…