Home » Uncategorized (Page 24)

Category Archives: Uncategorized

On Turning 60 Without Having Published a Book (Yet)

Posted on by | 5 Comments

Yes, friends, it’s true: I shall reach the exalted age of sixty soon. Very soon. Very.

hourglass

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 →

Feeling Like It

Posted on by | Leave a comment

IMG_4263

(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 →

Cat biographies

Posted on by | 6 Comments

Charlotte - pop-up cat cafe 5-20-18

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 →

Blithe Traveler

Posted on by | 6 Comments

bewildered traveler

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 →

Remembering George

Posted on by | 4 Comments

DSCF0092

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 →

A Tree of One’s Own

Posted on by | 2 Comments

IMG_5217

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 →

Take Advantage

Posted on by | 6 Comments

IMG_2087

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 →

A Couple of Reasons to Take a Class

Posted on by | 8 Comments

writing

There are tons of excellent reasons to take classes, including:

  • You can learn something;
  • You can improve a skill you already had;
  • You can meet people who are interested in the same things as you;
  • You can have fun.

Another reason, less frequently touted, is this: you might write something that gets published and earns you a few bucks. Continue reading →

Submitting Stories: A Few Thoughts

Posted on by | Leave a comment

IMG_2449

This afternoon, I woke from a nap and checked my email (as one does). Among the messages, two stood out.

One was a very kind rejection from a literary magazine.

The other was an acceptance from Intrinsick, an online literary journal.

Continue reading →

Favorites

Posted on by | Leave a comment

front door with autumn wreath

Over the past several days, I had occasion to be involved in a conversation about favorites.

The person who asked the initial question, a relative newcomer to the group, began a thread asking people to identify their favorite stories in the subject fandom. Her intention was to spark discussion. In this she succeeded brilliantly. Continue reading →