Last summer, I gave myself a gift. My friend Judy was offering a four-week writing workshop. I went on-line and registered. She’s one of the Writer’s lunch writers, owner of Redbird Writing Studio and the author of “Shut Up & Write.” It was everything I hoped for and then some. You can draw a straight … Continue reading Just me, at a writer’s retreat weekend, or “Three seismic paragraphs and a sandhill crane”
Category: Family story
When it came to fighting styles, my sister and I were not well-matched. When we were very young, (I remember the baby gate in front of her bedroom door and other places in the house) and she upset me, I’d complain to my mother about whatever it was Debby was doing. “Tell her not to,” Mom would … Continue reading Boot tracks across her winter coat and my severed finger: An Application for Entry to the Sister Fight Hall of Fame
Friday is the first night of Passover, one of the bigger holidays on the Jewish calendar. I’ve been hosting since before Mom moved to Milwaukee, but since she’s been here there’s no way I’d ever be able to think of not hosting. This will be the first Seder in years I haven’t had at least … Continue reading The Great Millennial Mashup Family Seder of 2012: A story of deliverance from slavery
“And I never forgot how that year after Dad died and we lost our house, my best friend moved away and the youth group turned its collective back on me felt (picture one of those cartoons where Daffy Duck is standing on a cliff and the giant eraser comes and suddenly there's only duck and … Continue reading Giant erasers, mean girls and shag carpet: A Dispatch from Misfit Hell
I don’t remember the exact point when my father announced that dating non-Jewish boys was off the table for my sister and me. It was before I started high school. Dad’s explanation was simple. Refusing to officiate at weddings in which the bride or groom wasn’t Jewish (if the bride or groom converted before the … Continue reading Teenage dating bans and skewed ‘benchmark Jewish male’ standards: A Dispatch from Misfit Hell
I really need to be working on my newspaper story about Miriam-Khaye Seigel’s wonderful recording of Yiddish music, “Toyznt Tamen.” I also want to write about Stephen Wade’s “The Beautiful Music All Around Us.” Sweetheart and I saw and heard him last week at our local Repertory Theater*. But I want to hold off until I have … Continue reading Procrastination, beautiful music and a sneak preview of “The Real Beekeepers of Flyover Country”
It's been 41 years since the day my father dropped my sister and me at school. Neither of us knew that would be the last time we saw him. Debby was in eighth grade and got dropped first. I was a freshman in high school, so got an extra six minutes of one-on-one time. What … Continue reading Memories of a futureless present in Urban Bucolica: a yahrzeit post about last words
Things are a little hectic here in Flyover Country at the moment, so I am going to post a photo of my dog inspecting the bouquet of birthday flowers my sister and her family sent Mom, who turned 87 this week. Mom is not the only senior citizen in our family. Tuki, the aforementioned dog, … Continue reading Tuki: My heart on four legs
It’s been a terrible week for the news business. Brian Williams has been handed a suspension without pay for six months, or as I’m calling it, “book leave.” Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show to have dinner with his kids. And Bob Simon, whose latest stop in a distinguished career was 60 Minutes, was … Continue reading Newsmakers make news, religious fanatics make trouble and Mom’s community hosts a Debbie Friedman event with a millennial twist
Saturday night, Sweetheart and I got ready to settle down on the couch for a night of hard-core TV watching. We’d done the grocery shopping, mom-visiting and dog-walking earlier in the day, because a snowstorm was in the weather forecast. Mushroom pie was in the oven, kale salad and a berry pie were in the fridge. … Continue reading Forget the Patriots & Seahawks. Around here, winning means a working furnace and no pogroms
the sentence factory 