My friend with an ovarian tumor had surgery yesterday, and the news was: BENIGN. What a huge relief, and wash of gratitude. It occurred to me that in the challenges in life that require the most courage, we have no choice but to proceed. It’s with the easier stuff–hang-gliding, public speaking, returning tricky phone calls–that […] Read More

Seems that letting go of the usual self-imposed structure leads to some serious sleeping. Not what I expected, but entirely predictable. I’ve always found that as long as I work intensely, I don’t get sick. Colds, etc., happen after deadlines. And that can make a person delay in letting up. But pressing on and on […] Read More

Been overworking for about a year. This morning I woke up, knew I didn’t have a deadline or an appointment today, and decided against doing anything terribly productive until Monday. (Email and blogging don’t count) So I’m having Ferris Bueller’s day off. Husband Bob has been rambling about with me; he’s half-retired and already had […] Read More

What is it about orange that makes it a “bolder” color than the others? Bolder even than red. A field of pumpkins for example, is much more vibrant than a great pile of cucumbers or eggplant. There’s probably some optical reason. In the absence of knowing what that might be, I dare to guess: orange […] Read More

This is an example of why we sometimes grind our teeth and then rush to watch Jon Stewart. This is a reminder (as if it were needed) that sometimes we are beyond the reach of caricature and satire. Here is an actual quote from an online help desk individual who couldn’t answer my question. “…Your […] Read More

My writing group is showing its age, as one of our number pointed out last week. The group has been meeting on Thursday afternoons for 26 years and we weren’t kids when we started. Recently one of the gang said she would in the future be coming only very occasionally. She has a serious chronic […] Read More

I’ve had report that it has recently been hard/confusing/impossible to leave a comment here. If you’ve had such difficulty, would you email me and let me know? [email protected]. Thanks. Add to del.icio.us - Stumble It! - Subscribe to this feed - Digg it Read More

A new hero of mine: Olympia Snowe, Republican senator from Maine. She’s the only senator of her party to vote for the Obama-backed healthcare reform bill this week. And she has ignored right-wing doctrine before: voting against a bill to ban gay marriage. Hail, Ms. Snowe. I hope her courage and her thinking set a […] Read More

Brisk weather is, for me, enlivening. It’s the season of new resolves, freshly sharpened pencils, and perkier energy. Perhaps that’s just in North Carolina, where the mugginess tends to lift by mid-October. In Chapel Hill, the temp just now is 56. The wind is north at 5 mph, and the humidity is 56%. We should […] Read More

University professor meets with student to go over his work. (on Halloween) See previous post: Feeling Like the Only One? Got your Halloween costume yet? Add to del.icio.us - Stumble It! - Subscribe to this feed - Digg it Read More