Many years ago I turned seventeen, so young and dewy, so eager to begin. If I could go back in time, what would I say to this insecure, vulnerable creature? What would you say to your seventeen-old-self? Here’s what I’d tell mine… Be who you are, not whom you think you should be. I always […]
Imagine sitting in a crowded room with 120 people doing something so torturous, so grueling, so excruciating…you start to question your sanity. This happened to me recently when I attended the annual Crossword Puzzle Tournament at the local library. Hosted by The New York Times’ Puzzle Editor, Will Shortz — this is the area’s […]
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of — oops, that’s Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities.” But even the French Revolution can’t compare, at times, to high school’s stress, angst, and terror. Here […]
I’ve driven by the place hundreds of times, tucked away in a modest strip of stores. But I never entered. I never knew what happened within those walls. The other night I found out. Yes, I had an invitation to try ballroom dancing. In that little nondescript building, I found a world I didn’t know […]
They didn’t care what people thought. They followed their own rules. Many enjoyed shocking the bourgeois. They were history’s “Nasty Women,” as today’s saying goes. This got me thinking. Why are these feisty females so fascinating? Here are my 5 favorites in no particular order… Mae West – This actress, singer, comedian, and playwright was […]
Ever find yourself dreading something so much, you can’t think of anything else? Your heart beats fast. Your palms sweat. You lie awake at night. Yet afterwards you find yourself relieved and even happy? This happened to me this week when I had to face the biggest, scariest, most threatening task of all… Yes, I […]
Over the past five years, I’ve had people ask a lot about blogging. Apparently there are tons of writers out there, hesitating over hitting that “publish” button. It got me thinking about why I do this strange thing. Here’s what I love about blogging and here’s the one awful, cringe-inducing thing I hate… First, things […]
You try and avoid them, but can’t. You hear them in cars, stores, lobbies, elevators, banks, the radio, and on television. They stalk you like bill collectors. They’re everywhere — the most headache-inducing holiday songs. Here are mine in no particular order… “Santa Baby” by Madonna – Wow. She’s not called the Material Girl […]
There’s a place I go, ducking in while others work or tend their children. I have mixed emotions about this pastime, this guilty pleasure fast becoming a habit. Even a few months ago, I shunned it as unnecessary and frivolous. Now I can’t seem to stay away. Just the other day I entered and asked […]
My God, my 60th birthday’s barreling down fast. There’s less than one month to go and I’m feeling a funny brew. There’s definitely a “Holy moly, how did I get here?” vibe. After all, I was twenty-five a week ago. But underneath all that is something else, a funny hum I couldn’t put my finger […]
