Don’t you just love the idea of going from “X” to “Y” in a short amount of time? The idea of waving a magic wand to affect change has always been part of our collective fantasy world. It’s why winning the lottery (or any contest) is so appealing; it’s how those TV shows suck us […]

Read more "Extreme Makeover"

I have an acquaintance. She’s not really a friend. We don’t know each other well enough to use that word. This is not to say that I wouldn’t want to be friends with her. I would, but there just hasn’t been a chance to begin a friendship.   For many adults, the people in their […]

Read more "The Battle of the Other"

My oldest child was seven and a half months old on 9/11/01. I remembering being at work, where I investigated child abuse and neglect 37.5 hours a week, and thinking that the world was coming to an end. Dramatic and fatalistic as that thought was, I can confidently look back now and see that I […]

Read more "“Same as it Ever was.”"

This last week has been all about women; well, all about two women: Hillary Clinton and Emily Doe. On Monday evening, we were told that a handful of previously uncommitted superdelegates had decided to back Secretary Clinton thereby clinching the nomination of the first woman on a major party ticket for the presidency. Just three […]

Read more "If You have a Vagina or Know Someone who Does"

I feel a story coming on. And it’s not going to be pretty. In the last few days I have been trying to compile in my mind what my next novel is going to be about. I’ve kept my eyes open and have come across three significant things, or for the sake of drama we […]

Read more "Desperation"

This is not a photo of the actual hourglass I have on the windowsill in my writing space. Mine was a gift from a friend who, while we were both serving a Peace Corps Volunteers in Latvia, traveled to Poland and brought it back for me. I’m not sure why he chose that as a […]

Read more "Time Laspes"

Ever think to yourself that you’d like to try something new and set your mind to do it for a whole year? Usually this happens around December 30th or 31st when annual resolutions are made with the best intentions to alter one’s course of conduct in order to bring fresh meaning and purpose to daily […]

Read more "A Toast to False Friendship"

Several months ago I entered a slew of writing contests. A slew equaling fifteen. Over the course of the last month or so the results have been rolling in. And guess what? I have received six “no, thank yous”–some more polite than others, i.e., detailed enough to make me think that what I submitted was […]

Read more "Two Roads Diverged. (Spoiler Alert: It’s Not What You Thought)"

As thinking and feeling creatures, we tend to carry with us a collection of emotions that often directly correlate to thoughts in our heads. Take a minute and think back to an important happening or event in your life, e,g,. your child’s graduation, your wedding, the birth of niece, that major car accident you were […]

Read more "If the Shoe Fits, You Can Still go Barefoot"

If you were paying attention in the spring of 1992, you probably remember this quote coming from the mouth of Rodney King. His broadcast appeal to the violent masses was made only half way through the six-day-long rioting in Los Angeles. And to be fair, “Can’t we all just get along?” were not his words. […]

Read more "“Can’t We All Just Get Along?”"