Home » Things I have learned so far (Page 24)
To say this is an odd time is an understatement. Better adjectives might be strange, bizarre, or surreal.
Exhibit A: Olivia is sitting on my desk. The last time she sat here voluntarily was at least a decade ago. Granted, I lifted her up since she can no longer make the leap, but she’s stayed. Continue reading
I’ve been working out of my home since 1997. Last year, I applied for a job that would have required me to work in a regular office. You know, the kind where you dress like a professional, show up at a particular time, and deal with co-workers.
This was not a selling point. Continue reading
Yes, friends, it’s true: I shall reach the exalted age of sixty soon. Very soon. Very.
Recently, I watched an episode of “Sex and the City” in which Charlotte announced that she was not going to turn 36 on her birthday because “I’m just not where I thought I’d be at 36, so I’m sticking at 35.” Granted, she was in a tough spot: her marriage had crumbled under the stress of infertility, and her efforts to resume the career she’d paused for babymaking had proven fruitless. Still, it set me to wondering: am I where I thought I’d be at 60? Continue reading
(Magnet on the whiteboard over my desk)
* * *
There are at least a dozen things I need to do today, but I’m writing this blog post instead.
Why?
Because I feel like it. Continue reading
Recently, a biography for a shelter cat named Perdita went viral after the shelter described her as the “world’s worst cat” and “just a jerk.”
Luckily, the shelter was flooded with applications from people wanting to adopt this cat, and they’re in the process of reviewing them. Apparently if you can strike the right tone, maybe that kind of a bio works. Continue reading
I have come to the conclusion that there are two kinds of travelers.
First, there are the Blithe Travelers. These are the folks for whom traveling requires barely more thought than a trip to the grocery store. They pop online to make their reservations at a reasonable, though not excessively long, time before the scheduled trip. Once they’ve confirmed their flights (which took them about ten minutes to select), they return to their normal lives until the night before they leave, at which point they toss a few items into a carryon bag. Continue reading
December 21. The shortest day of the year. The longest night. The greatest darkness.
How fitting that this day is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Across the country, memorial services honor and remember those who have died in the past year while experiencing homelessness. Continue reading
One of the first Christmas specials I remember was Charles Schulz’s classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The centerpiece of the story is the tree Charlie Brown picks out to decorate the gang’s Christmas pageant. Continue reading
We know that our entire lives can change in an instant. This truth has been hammered home for me in the past few months as things I’d considered constant have shifted, some irrevocably and others for the time being. As I grapple with new demands, figuring out new ways to balance, I find myself thinking with longing of times past when things seemed easier simply because they didn’t include today’s obligations. Not that I thought of them as easier times then; rather, at those times, I longed for other, different circumstances. Continue reading
There are tons of excellent reasons to take classes, including:
Another reason, less frequently touted, is this: you might write something that gets published and earns you a few bucks. Continue reading
P. Jo Anne Burgh 