The glossy stack of magazines beckoned. I was in the reception area of a nutritional clinic waiting for my husband to finish his appointment, and time was dragging. My hands held a thick collection of required reading for one of my college classes. The content was littered with academic speak so dry and creatively parched that I had to wet… Read More
99 beer cans in the ditch, 99 cans of beer…
Many of us grew up with the popular sing-along song of 99 cans of beer on the wall, and it can be fun or irritating depending on one’s mood. However, when those empty beer cans end up littering the roads and ditches I feel incredibly sad. My husband and I walk our dog, Booker, along mostly the same country road… Read More
The technology of beauty…
“Cate Blanchett goes sans Photoshop for magazine cover,” the headline read. I don’t know if the link will carry over but here it is if you want to read the story without my musings: http://thelook.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/21/10796953-cate-blanchett-goes-sans-photoshop-for-magazine-cover. I love stories like hers for a number of reasons: 1. That this is something so unusual it gets a story. 2. That at the… Read More
Customer Service…
Oh dear. The young well-meaning waitress brought me a glass of Cabernet wine instead of Chardonnay. Normally I would have clutched my throat and made dying of thirst motions—just kidding—Normally I would have sweetly asked her to take it back and make an exchange, but there was more to this story. To avoid the St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans, my husband… Read More
The rear view mirror…
“Many of us have our memories of being sort of shut out of gyms and playgrounds and whatever. But back then, we didn’t really grumble about it. Like an awful lot of things that happened to young women at the time, that was just the way it was. We hadn’t gotten to the point where we started complaining that maybe… Read More
One for the rages…
“Marriage accustomed one to the good things, so one came to take them for granted, but magnified the bad things, so they came to feel as painful as a grain in one’s eye. An open window, a forgotten quart of milk, a TV set left blaring, socks on the bathroom floor could become occasions for incredible rage. And something happened… Read More
Cat-astrophe in the making…
A number of years ago I heard a story about a family who, upon opening the clothes dryer to remove clothing, discovered their pet cat had met its demise in the permanent press cycle. My mind rejected the notion of it because it was too horrible to think about. “How could anyone not notice their cat in the dryer?” I… Read More
A story worth telling…
Sometimes the Universe has plans that are hard to ignore. Several years ago I was sitting in Peter Wahlstrom’s Greek Philosophy class when a women student I barely knew tapped me on the shoulder. “Psst, Gail,” she whispered. “Have you ever taken a class by Dr. Claudia Kittock?” “Noooooo,” I said slowly. (Why was this unknown-to-me student asking this?) “What… Read More
Crushed by love…
I could feel the tufted white satin lining as my fingers searched for an opening, searched for a chance to escape. Nothing made sense. It was so dark I’d lost my bearings. Was I right side up or face down? My balance said I was slightly vertical, but that didn’t seem possible. Kicking and screaming served no purpose other than… Read More
Leg go already!
Angelina Jolie approaches the microphone, juts out her hip, and poses her leg through the thigh-high slit of her black velvet evening gown. My husband gives an appreciative sigh. “I like her dress,” he said with a glazed expression and just a hint of drool. Truth be told, I liked it too. Although she seems concerningly thin these days, Angelina… Read More
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