Category Archives: Advice
Losing Control
This week the carpenter came to do some repairs. The dogs did their typical thing. Theo was all over the carpenter, insisting on attention and constant petting. Henry stood four feet behind the guy, barking his silly protective head off. Which one was annoying? Both, of course. Too much love gets in the way of …
Cheating
I confess. I like computer games. I do crossword puzzles and play Gin and Cribbage and even the dreaded Candy Crush. A few years ago, I played a lot of online Scrabble. But after a while, I got very frustrated with all the cheating. I knew that some of my competitors were using apps that …
Expertise
As I was trying on outfits the other day – for God knows what reason, I have nowhere on earth to go – a sweet memory surfaced – also from God knows where. I attended a parochial grammar school, where I wore the typical Catholic school uniform. Navy jumper, white blouse, little navy bowtie. Oh …
Proud Mary
Like everyone in the world, I love music. But I am not a connoisseur. I don’t collect music. I don’t have a fancy music-playing thing – are people still using ipods and mp3s? I don’t even know. The last time I bought music it was The Best of James Taylor. I listen to the radio …
Leaving It Behind
I’m in the editing process for my new novel. My narrator, like myself (what a coincidence), digresses quite a bit as she tells her story. One story reminds her of another story, which reminds her of another story. But all these little side trips advance the plot or reveal her character or someone else’s. But …
Moving On
Do you ever find yourself in this situation? … (Oh, please say you do… I do not want to feel like the weirdest person in the room) … You are getting a bit low on some product – it could be toothpaste or hair spray or even salad dressing, so the next time you are …
The Horribles
I haven’t written lately. I don’t even know what to say during these horrible days. But I’ll take a few minutes to ramble. Maybe it will help. Is it possible to be bored and terrified at the same time? The hardest thing this past month has been not seeing my mother. She’s 96 and I …
Power
This week I saw the film “Bombshell.” I worked at a cable network for fifteen years, so the subject matter intrigued me. Although I was at a different network from Fox News, I was curious if there would be parallels. How much would I recognize? Would I see situations that were similar to what I …
Two Lessons A Year
Another Year. Another Birthday. A year ago I was sitting here writing about all the stuff I wanted to learn in the twenty years I figured I had left in my life. If I was right, and I’m always right (in my mind, anyway), I now have nineteen years left. Did I learn enough this …
