Aren’t we a culture that professes to value individuals? A society that goes wild over the stand-out: exceptional performance, particular charm, something – anything – distinctive? And don’t we oo and ah over beauty? And yet. The distinctions we seek – in professions and in personal style – are increasingly conventional. As for beauty, who […]
Timing is everything
Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking… Trying to wake the kid. Rushing to get his lunch made. Hoping the car will start. Scrambling to get things done hours earlier than usual, and “usual” is pretty damn early. Crossing my fingers that I make it to the dealership. Pleading for no traffic. Counting on that loaner. […]
Starting Over, Over and Over
I ask myself: How many times must I learn the same lesson? And I answer: As many as it takes. I ask myself: How many times must I start over? And I answer: As many as opportunity allows. Starting over I find myself starting over – again. Small things. Big things. And of course, simultaneously. […]
Cuppa, cuppa, cuppa, cappa Thanks!
Sonnet Bonnet? Ach du lieber, Friday eve is here! No hot man with whom to pass my time. Thinking I’ll distract myself with cheer – Cappuccino couplets filled with rhyme? Might I ponder other things to do? A fine male chest that always makes me smile? I would find that cool now wouldn’t you? Or […]
As plain as the nose on my face
It’s been bumpy around Ye Olde Homestead of late. Cycles of teen stress, silence, a talk, followed by improvement. Two or three days later, the cycle repeats. Fortunately, I have plenty of shoe dye for the gray hair. And far more patience than I ever realized. I also have a usual go-to solution. A great […]
Unfinished Business
Who doesn’t have unfinished business? There are monies owed and never collected. There are grudges, though we wish we could shed them. There are injustices we can name, document, dissect until we are out of breath and still we cannot defeat them. There are plans shelved for the machinery of a family unit. There are […]
Get Rich Quick!
Link love from Louisville. Product placement in Poughkeepsie. Rentals in Rio. And haven’t we all seen our local version of Mother Makes $88 Dollars an Hour on the Internet? There has to be a way to make bucks fast, right? Must all the ideas we hear and read be schemes and scams? Two years ago […]
The Forest for the Trees
We were pressed for time. Again. While my son finished dressing and filling his backpack, I put a plate of fried eggs and toast on the table. Orange juice next to it. I paced a little. I hate running late. He swallowed down breakfast and gulped the juice, grabbed his things, asked for the car […]
Random Acts of Parenting
I thought it would be a quiet weekend. It was. A little too quiet. My son seemed off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Though he had friends over one evening, there were two nights in a row when he was up at strange hours, walking around. Not his usual behavior. But with adolescents, […]
Who do you trust?
When I wrote about the film, Closer, I was intrigued by the fine line between honesty and dishonesty, genuine connection and its simulation, and the ways in which we deceive ourselves when we love. There is nothing more fascinating – to me – than adults dealing with each other. Men and women, interacting. The issue […]