If my ex-husband and I had been able to go the distance, last Wednesday, February 7, would have been our 31st wedding anniversary. Today is Valentine’s Day. The history of my relationships is unimportant. It’s enough to share that I’m uncoupled at present. I have not been in love for a very long time. I don’t know that I ever will be again. Either way, I’m okay. There will be no chocolates and rose petals for me today. I am no one’s Valentine. But still,…
The New Year is here. It’s time to take a few deep breaths, square our shoulders and get it on. I’m feeling stupidly optimistic about the year ahead. Here are ten thoughts going in: Weird is better than humorless. Experts agree. So, if you feel that special inclination, go for it. You’re not getting any younger. There’s a lot of discord out there. Our fellow human beings sometimes make a mess of things; in the best case, they disappoint us and in the worse,…
Me at three. My mom did not get me. The showdown started early. Mom wanted a baby doll of a little girl whom she could adorn in frilly dresses and patent leather Mary Janes. She dreamt of kempt hair with cute ribbons. What she got, however, was chubby, messy me. I was my own little animal with a bit of a feral streak. I had no use for the corduroy jumpers and matching tights that she perpetually tried to inflict on me. I…
A few days ago, I celebrated my 52nd birthday. It was a low-key day without much fuss and hoopla. As far as passages go, 52 is a benign year. Nobody is excitedly awaiting your arrival but they haven’t called in the gravediggers yet either. It’s a good place from which to float and observe. Considering you’re past the midway point on the giant climb, the view is vast. It spans all directions, inside and out. Oprah is always going on about “what I know for…
Mallory Kane “Haywire” is an action thriller about uber secret agent Mallory Kane, who is double-crossed on a covert mission in Dublin. Throughout the course of the film, she uses mad fighting skills and cool thinking to get out of harm’s way and to exact revenge on the bad guys who are doggedly out to get her. She kicks, she punches, she throws down and she shoots. She’s got a killer headlock. Her left hook is treacherous. No matter how dire…
Courage According to the Cowardly Lion, courage is “what makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk.” John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” And the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.” Clearly, courage is a big subject. I think about it a lot. I have spent the better part of my life standing on the edge of a high dive…
A few months ago, I took on a new job that I knew wasn’t right for me. Fiscally-speaking, it offered low-hanging fruit, and my fears about economic insecurity won out over the small voice inside of me that kept whispering…..warning me…..that I was about to take a wrong turn. That small voice was right. This particular gig, while definitely enhancing my day-to-day financial situation, has become an enormous time and energy suck. It eats up several hours of my day, and when the time comes…
