Why
If you’ve ever had the good fortune to spend quality time with a two year old you were bombarded with “why” questions. “Why is that called a rainbow? Why does a dog bark? Why do I have to go to bed? But why?” If you think about it “why’s” are not just the province of the extremely young and curious. At my advanced age I am still plagued by “whys”. Why is it that some people die a quiet, dignified death and others go out slowly, all dignity gone, and far too often, in absolute agony? Recently a friend reported on the death of the brother of her father-in-law. She said, “When I phoned Bill yesterday, he shared the sad news that his brother, Lenny, had passed away. He talked to him Friday morning and he was gone by 2 that afternoon. Lenny...
Please Don’t Pee In My Livingroom
Please Don’t Pee in My Living Room You know what I mean. Rude, insensitive comments, criticism and mean-spirited insensitivity directed at another’s culture, life-style, home and country. I know, in this day and age of free speech, everyone thinks that they no longer have to guard their tongue. Whatever comes into their minds is manna from the heavens and placed there to share, whether it is by Twitter, Facebook, blogging and face-to-face-insult. What has happened to good-old common-sense courtesy? As a parent and as an elementary school teacher I spent many hours teaching the young how to extend kindness, courtesy and acceptance to one-another. Say, “please and thank you”. If you hurt someone’s feelings say you’re sorry. Where has that...
Thou Shalt Not Envy
I have envy issues. I don’t envy what you should envy. I envy odd quirky accomplishments or attributes. I envy women who have little cute feet. Like works of art. High, delicate insteps, toes that stair-step smoothly from little to big. Smooth like a baby’s – they don’t look as if they’ve taken one step. Beautiful feet, untouched – not ravaged by time or work. Men can also have great feet. Not as often as women, but it is not impossible. Strong, boney feet with an aristocratic look to them. Feet designed to carry the owner confidently into battle and out again, unscratched. I also envy the ability to play a musical instrument – with authority. I would love to be able to stride masterfully up to a grand piano, toss back the tails of my tux,...
Don’t Write Alone
Writing can be a lonely business. Especially if you live alone. You get up in the morning, pour a coffee or brew a tea and sit down at your keyboard. Unless you make an effort to get out, you can go for days without hearing a human voice other than through the media. If this describes you then you might benefit from joining a writer’s critique group. Or you might reach a snag in your writing and no matter what you feed your muse it has decided to take an extended vacation. The harder you try to jump-start your writing, the deeper you seem to slip into the morass of writer’s block. If this describes you then you might benefit from joining a writer’s critique group. There are many reasons for joining a writer’s critique group. One of the...
MARILYN MONROE vs NORMA JEAN BAKER
Not Today World Have you ever had one of those days where it has taken every ounce of your courage to put-on-your-face and walk out the door? The days when you’d give your last dime to crawl into a dark hole and hide? Or, jump back under the bed covers and cower like a child afraid of the dark. I wonder how universal is this affliction of not wanting to face the day? And, if it is fairly widespread, do more women struggle with this form of ‘stage fright’ than men; or would it be gender neutral? Is this an adversity of people who are basically introverts? People whose disposition dictates...
Come Journey With Me
“Hello.” “Yes, look at me. Study my front cover – now flip me over and read my back cover. Feel the weight of me; riffle my pages. Do you like what you see?” “Not sure. Then read my opening line.” “Does it have the power to grab your imagination? Is it memorable? Will it stand the test of time like the following first lines?” ‘All happy families are alike but an unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion.’ Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy, 1878 ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1859 ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a...
Commas are Confounding
On punctuation, (the comma in particular) Oscar Wilde once wrote: “All morning I worked on the proof of one of my poems, and I took out a comma; in the afternoon I put it back.” The comma is the workhorse of the punctuation marks available to a writer. I know that some will argue that the distinction falls to the period. But I beg to differ. The period wanders in to do it’s job after the writer has rambled on, often at great length. And if the sentence is a question or an exclamatory statement the period will not show it’s little round face at all. The comma, by comparison, has to leap into action at every turn. Few sentences make it through to the final punctuation mark without being preceded by at least one comma. The...
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