I guess it’s no secret I’ve finished writing a book. Well, up till last week, I thought it was finished. After 5 years of slaving away on paragraphs and polishing each sentence, I thought The Plucky Orflings was complete. I liked it, my sister liked it, and my friends loved it, so I figured it was just a matter of time until some agent agreed. Well, if so, that time isn’t now. Now, I suspect most...
I used to feel so sorry for the people on that A&E show, Hoarders . There they were, self-imprisoned victims, overwhelmed by their obsessions with trash. Most of them knew they were sick but, because of their illness, couldn’t find the way to heal themselves. I’d sit in my mostly tidy living room and pity these folks, sure I didn’t have a problem like theirs. Well, I do and it’s appeared in ...
Parents don’t tell you (even though they should) that it can be hard to grow up with a sister It means there’s there’s always someone else around, and, whether you’re older or younger, you two are always in each other’s shadows. When the two of you are small, sisters are in-house competition for any family attention and favor. And, because a sister gets to know you well, she can figure out e...
Posts occurring on Valentine’s Day are practically obligated to have a romantic theme. Well, this is as close as I’m likely to get: the Shakespearean play that made me fall in love with love. Everyone remembers their first, I mean the first production of a Shakespearean play. It tends to dominate their world view and every play by the Bard they see after that. Present a newbie with the star-crossed lovers i...
It’s been foggy as all get out this week. I don’t mean one of dark, pea-soup fogs that blacken city centers for days, but a daily, thick, white, winter mist that layers everything outdoors in microscopic droplets and obscures any object more than 30 feet away. Fogs that makes the world seem even colder than it is. We’re talking weather an English Teacher can use to lecture about creating “atmosphere.” ...