Should you be in the mood for a hilarious compliment to boost your boldness factor, go get your writing “analyzed” at I Write Like Margaret Atwood. All you have to do is paste in a few paragraphs and the site’s software speedily decides what well-known writer uses similar word choice and syntax. I ran across […] Read More

So often it’s difficult to know which is “the better part of valor.” I think most of us would do the right thing most of the time if we were sure what it was. (Heady discussion at lunch today about the pros and cons of fundamentalist religion: it does give a secure sense of right […] Read More

How is it possible that my car failed, my computer got a virus, I lost my health insurance, my credit card was stolen, my psychologist husband moved into a new office and independent practice after 42 years with his old group, and major repairs are going on at our house–all in the same few weeks? […] Read More

A flower-mobile (see photo two posts ago) is a hard act to follow, of course. But my morning glory car was replaced — on the eve of Independence Day weekend — by this cherry-bomb-red 1998 Ford Escort. I'm thrilled and feeling a new surge of bold independence. [youtube PQt3p6IDFuk nolink] Add to del.icio.us – Stumble It! – Subscribe to […] Read More

Yesterday I sold my flowered ’92 Camry on Craigs List.(see photo below) About twenty people were interested within minutes of my posting, three of them fiercely so. I felt as if I were suddenly defending a dissertation (not that I really know what that feels like.) The experience was a bit agitating because I know […] Read More

I’m thinking of rehoming my beloved Morning Glory Car, in which I’ve had many literary thoughts and even written a few immortal pages.For the right collector of literary stuff, particularly North Carolina or Southern, this hand-stencilled-by-the-author art car will be a real find. For the right offer, I’ll throw in signed copies of my books. […] Read More

Cheers for Elaine Marshall, who just won a primary runoff in the face of huge obstacles. Her opponent was the candidate of the party establishment (according to the News & Observer) and she was dealt a tremendous personal blow with the death of her husband during the campaign (which I only learned after the results […] Read More

Bold move for me: I put oil in my car, for the first time ever. The oil light on the dash had started to flicker late last night. I picked up a few quarts at a convenience store. A helpful guy there advised on what kind a ’92 Camry would most like. (This is a […] Read More

Good friend with bad diagnosis. Too much of this is happening and at an increasing pace. And I’m only 61. I’d always heard that old age was not for sissies; I thought that saying referred to coping with one’s own ailments, impairments and indignities. But, no — it’s a whole lot larger than that. I’ve […] Read More

This is a plug for the wonders of my magical husband. A clinical psychologist, Bob teaches self-hypnosis in an all-day seminar at our house about every three months. This quarter’s “all-day,” as we call it, is this Friday at our log cabin beside a pond in the woods. Participants learn to use self-hypnosis for whatever […] Read More