Tomorrow will be a day of empty pleasantries.

8 hours in a small conference room with my entire department (6 people: 5 women; 1 man--me--), working on the same task--together.

In theory.

This meeting happens twice a year. We all know it is coming; in my calendar I mark… Read full post »

A BOTTICELLI BEAUTY

It was the most beautiful dream: at a dark smoke-filled bar I listened to jazz music while sipping an appletini. I was in my 20s again, wearing that sleek red dress that I know I gave to the Goodwill after Travis was born. Out of… Read full post »

126 years ago today, Emily Dickinson died. Her 1700+ poems have inspired children's books, classical music pieces, Hallmark cards, and have infuriated and bored many a high school student. 

She was reclusive, wildly intelligent, silently tortured, and had such a tight grasp on… Read full post »

Dear _____________ :

Remember me? The quiet guy who sat behind you in English class? I know I won't forget you. The year was 1992. I was the little one who wore different colored Converse All-Star high-top tennis shoes, the quiet one with shaggy blonde hair who tried really hard… Read full post »

For those who are looking for a well-reasoned, political discussion on gun issues--this is not for you. If you would like a rant about the horrors of guns and the people who use them, I would suggest going elsewhere. Sure, I have political… Read full post »

I decided to head over to the grocery store.

The objective: purchase ice cream.

Why? After the day I had today, I deserved it.

I stepped into my flip-flops, grabbed my keys, and hit the road. I had my blue fleece sweatshirt on and my bright green pajama pants plastered… Read full post »

When I started college in 1995, the college had just built a new building dedicated to the arts. Up to that point, the arts had a falling apart yet comfortable yellow brick building on the far edge of the campus. With its 1970s rust and mustard paisley… Read full post »

Yes, it is true. The quiet, shadowed avatar who has problems speaking to cashiers at the grocery store and goes out of his way to avoid auto mechanics to the point of placing his car in peril was once a stalker.

It was stalking with good intentions.… Read full post »

In my family, sleep is a tempermental mistress who toys with each of us.

When I was a child, my mother would be awake until 3 or 4 in the morning clipping coupons, washing dishes, or doing laundry. She'd sleep for maybe an hour and… Read full post »

I pull into the parking lot at work every morning in between 6:00 -- 6:30 a.m.  I am the first one there because I am most productive in the mornings; the other people start filtering in around 7:00.

Usually the walk to the building is uneventful.… Read full post »

We met in May.

It was a warm month, on one of those days where the clouds are extra fluffy and move quickly across the sky casting shadows down to the ground in splotches--a patchwork quilt of shade.

The park was filled with people; the lake… Read full post »

Last night I had to stay late and participate in a work function. This work activity was filled with a lot of down time and mundane paperwork. So, to pass the time I started making comic strips on the bottom of the pages. I am no… Read full post »

Some time ago a flip was switched to a default setting of "mistakes and shame"--every time I have too much alone time, when my brain seems to be quieting down, a flash of memory will enter that causes me to recoil: having neglected a friend in a… Read full post »

What kind of man do I want to be? 

It's kind of a funny question to ask when you are 35 years old. I would assume I'm already some kind of man, but it never hurts to take a step back and consider the options...taking a moment… Read full post »

Sheehan Dorm: Winona, Minnesota

In the summer of 1984, my sister, mother, father and I lived in my father's dorm room at Winona State University. I'm not certain of how the logistics of this arrangement played out, and sometimes I think it was all imagined, but… Read full post »

 

I'm not sure how he is related to me; he is my mother's first cousin, so perhaps he is my second cousin? Once we start darting off the main trunk of the family tree, I get lost quite quickly.

Bob is his name, and he is… Read full post »

A few years ago, I made the grueling trek to visit my parents and sister. And because I refuse to take airplanes unless it is an extreme emergency, it is a 28 hour Amtrak ride to Dallas.

I, however, was not alone on my journey. My 78 year old… Read full post »

Every three weeks, without fail, I take a little trip to the hospital. A very close friend of mine is off to his blood treatment, and I either take him or stop by for an extended visit. He is in his early 60s; he has no friends… Read full post »

Sometimes you hear a song on the radio and you hunt down the band to hear more, other times someone will tell you about a song and share the music with you, and other times music shows up at a time you least expect it to matter. It is often those unexpected momen… Read full post »

I'm not sure why I did it, perhaps it was the result of attending school in a Minnesota school district that has recently been made famous for its bullying policies. It may have been because I had been there: the victim of countless beatings for being the/… Read full post »

Memories come in all shapes and sizes, but usually the most vivid ones focus on a specific place, a specific time, with specific people. The time Grandma had too many fermented cherries and fell into a snow bank outside of a restaurant on New Year's Eve, for example.

Memories some… Read full post »

 I'm not much of a picture taker. When I look in my "Pictures" folder, I see under 50 prints. I might make a physical appearance in a dozen of them. Mostly, they are pictures of places: Places I once called home, places where I found a love of nature or… Read full post »

 I'm not a huge country music fan, but I love Dolly Parton. And I love this song, which was written for the film Transamerica. 

 I don't know how to embed a video, but I have hyper-linked the title of the song below, which will take you to a YouTube video… Read full post »

I'm not good at "the rant" genre. So many people can just vent their frustrations on the screen, and I read in awe of the raw emotion and the sincere vehemence injected in every word.

This week, I have been made privy to the information surrounding the emotional breakdown of… Read full post »

 "I made a pie today."

That is a simple, five word sentence. Only one of the words is multisyllabic, yet with that simple sentence I elicited the wheezing laughter of a proud, chain-smoking mother on the telephone last night.

My childhood was spent among the… Read full post »