Close-ups of genitalia impaled with metal objects wouldn’t be my first choice in waiting room reading material.  But last Wednesday night I wasn’t in the type of waiting room that stocks my kind of reading material, although it's probably only a matter of time.  (I did bring alo… Read full post »

Because my dad died two days ago, I figured I should get my 77-year-old mother something extra-special for Mother’s Day. 

Of course I know material things can’t relieve grief.  I tried it myself when my own husband died. Turning to drugs, alcohol and/or random sex with strange… Read full post »

My dad used to come home after spending an evening with his Alzheimer’s-addled father and say “If I ever get like that, please shoot me.  I’m not kidding, just take me out back and shoot me.”

He did get like that but no one had to shoot him.  He died… Read full post »

My positive and negative halves squared off the other morning.  I wish I could say it was an epic blazing battle between the forces of light and dark.  But that would be a false-positive statement. 

It all started over $40 in Kohl’s cash. 

I'd stopped at the… Read full post »

The most irresponsible person on the road isn’t the one texting, talking on his cell phone or driving drunk.  He’s the one who slaps a bumper sticker on the back of his vehicle and then hops behind the wheel.  Where he never has to see it again. 

Then… Read full post »

“Are we doing anything special tomorrow,” my daughter asked me when I picked her up from school yesterday afternoon.

I thought for a second.  “You have your first away track meet.  That’s special.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.  I mean, you k… Read full post »

Thank Thanks to recent events in Steubenville, Ohio, I’d had a great talk with my teenaged son about underage drinking, peer pressure, treating females with respect and the importance of using good judgment in difficult situations.  It also sparked a memory of my own irresponsible behavior… Read full post »

I’d just had a worthwhile discussion with my 14-year-old son Woody about the Steubenville Ohio case. Underage kids at unsupervised parties featuring unlimited alcohol and the sexual assault of a 16-year-old female by two teenaged boys had provided me with plenty of talking points. 

The b… Read full post »

The incident in Steubenville, Ohio involving two high-school boys getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar, so to speak, presented itself as the perfect opportunity to launch a meaningful conversation with my 14-year-old son about a plethora of relevant issues.

That’s what I thought… Read full post »

There they go again.  I’ve been loading the dishwasher while Dianna and Emily eat breakfast on the other side of the counter, alternately stuffing scrambled eggs and toast in their mouths while their fingers fly over their cell phones. 

They must communicate telepathically because ne… Read full post »

A few weeks ago my daughter was in a dither.  “Help me decide what to wear on Sunday,” she said.

I assumed it was a special occasion.  “What’s happening on Sunday?”

“I told you, remember?  Me and Kyle are going to visit Jimmy and I’ve never m… Read full post »

Walking is good for you.  Who’d argue with that – it’s a no-brainer.  Pick up any women’s magazine, you’re guaranteed to see an article about the many benefits of walking.  To hear doctors, nutritionists and fitness coaches tell it, it’s just about t… Read full post »

Twice a week, for six weeks during our intensive training to be suicide hotline volunteers, the thirty of us eagerly absorbed suicide statistics. We raptly listened to suicide survivors’ tales.  We fought back tears when those who’d lost loved ones to suicide described for us the nev… Read full post »

Disorder in the house
All bets are off
I'm sprawled across the davenport of despair

Disorder in the house
I'll live with the losses
And watch the sundown through the portiere

From “Disorder In The House” by Warren Zevon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siqJq-8Sr6U  

It&rs… Read full post »

The other day Barnes and Noble bookstores announced plans to close at least 20 stores a year for the next decade. This news troubles me because it’s the last big chain left - Borders is gone, Waldenbooks is gone, along with lots of others.  Newspapers and news magazines are folding or… Read full post »

I'm feeling discombobulated.  I’d never heard the word until my mother-in-law used it; I thought she made it up. I figured it was one of the strange little colloquialisms I attributed to her farm girl southern Ohio youth.  Along the line of: “Well color me surprised,” some… Read full post »

Thanks to a recent post by blogger Robert Isenberghttp://open.salon.com/blog/robert_isenberg/2013/01/02/books_by_people_i_know_fringe-ology_1, I’m reading a fascinating book called Fringe-ology   How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable – and Couldn’t.

Wr… Read full post »

HALF THEIR SIZE!

Those three little words on the magazine’s cover caught my eye as I passed the grocery store’s news stand and it was all over.  I couldn’t fish my wallet out of my purse fast enough. I grabbed the mag, ditched my cart, darted through the checkout aisle… Read full post »

One argument conservatives make against higher taxes for wealthy Americans is that people should be entitled to keep what they earn through their own efforts.  They have no moral obligation to pay more just because they earn more.

This argument also carries over to maintaining benefits program… Read full post »

It’s been over two weeks since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary and the two most frustrating questions remain unanswered: why did it happen and could it have been prevented?  

We may never know.  Adam Lanza, the shooter, is dead.   He also killed his mother, Nancy Lanza… Read full post »

How I admire

Someone

Who can make a New Years resolution

In October

That lasts

Not a week

Or a month

Or a year

But forever.

If  that strain of resolute resolve 

Could be mass produced

And injected

Imagine the… Read full post »

My son and I were in the car the other day, having a typical conversation.  He was driving and I was yacking away, asking him questions and not waiting for an answer, jumping from subject to subject and interrupting myself while he stared straight ahead.  He caught me off guard when… Read full post »

I should stop this.  For one thing it’s a colossal time waster.  For another, it hurts.  I keep coming to OS (that is, when I can actually get on) even though I know exactly what I’m going to find.  Or what I’m not going to find: Open Salon th… Read full post »