Dear Trevor Noah: I hope you are taking good care of yourself and feeling better. But I feel moved to inform you that rescheduling your November 9th Milwaukee show threw me into full-on “First-World White Lady Existential Crisis” mode Bruised vocal cords are no joke. So I’m glad you stayed home and took care of yourself. … Continue reading First World White Lady Problems: An Open Letter to Trevor Noah (with photos)
I was in the middle of an anxiety dream involving my mother, peanut sauce and Wales when the sound of a door opening jarred me awake. It was Sweetheart, with our morning coffees. After I attempted to describe the dream (Sweetheart: "Peanut stew? That sounds terrible!"), I said, "It's Election Day!" Then, I started … Continue reading Retain your complaining rights! A “nag you to vote” post featuring Alice Cooper, Mom’s 3¢ postage stamp, Tuki & Ward 201
Five years ago, my pal Molly and her husband Richard flew in from New York to visit her parents, "Mel" (z"l) and "Sally." It was their first visit after M&S moved into "Old People Harvard," the independent and assisted-living community where Mom had been living for two years. It was a great gift to Mom … Continue reading Accidental landlording & purposeful librarianship: a dispatch from the busy zone with a reminder to VOTE TUESDAY!
File yesterday under “Days when you’re glad your mother and aunts are dead.” File yesterday under “This is why I grapple with knowing that I look and benefit from being white but don't ever feel entirely white.” File yesterday under “What part of their part in this do Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Chuck Grassley, Paul … Continue reading Whistle long enough, dogs show up: Best synagogue shooting response? Weep. Mourn. Vote.
Dear Dr. Ford: I watched some of your testimony last week and want you to know that I thought you were amazing. You made sense out of something that was hard to make sense of, and you did it with elegance and good humor and decency. It was easy to imagine you as … Continue reading Thank you from the bottom of my heart: an open letter to Dr. Susan Blasey Ford
Two weeks ago Sunday, two carloads of my Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom chapter drove down to Chicago for an afternoon of camaraderie and training in how to engage in thorny discussions. Along with the Wisconsin contingent (Milwaukee and Madison), women came from Illinois (Chicago and beyond) and Iowa (Quad Cities). Our facilitators did a great … Continue reading Together beneath the Abrahamic tree: Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom adventures
I caught a little of the testimonies of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. It was horrifying. The contrast between the two witnesses was stark. Dr. Ford told her story with remarkable composure. She was visibly upset, but did an amazing job describing her reasons for coming … Continue reading #Metoo vs. #Poormetoo: Senate Committee hears from Ford & Kavanaugh
On Wednesday, The New York Times published an anonymous op-ed by someone serving at the pleasure of President Trump. It was not exactly news to read that the current occupant of the White House is a petty bully who does whatever makes him feel good and repudiates anyone who dares to intimate that he is anything less … Continue reading ‘A preference for autocrats and dictators:’ Op-ed writer luckier than Riyadh Ibrahim
Cataract surgery #2 is in the rear-view mirror. I have decided to use the opportunity to don my journalist/ “Enemy of the People” hat and pull back the curtain on how trained reporters go about preparing for and conducting interviews in order to bring readers useful information. Why am I qualified to do this? The … Continue reading ‘Enemy of the People’ reveals building blocks for ‘fake news’ story on cataract surgery
It’s been a long month. Two weeks ago I underwent a procedure most people call cataract surgery, which I have unilaterally nicknamed “extreme Lasik.” It has left me unsettled, crabby and neurologically unhappy. I know cataract surgery is different than Lasik. With Lasik, a medical professional reshapes your cornea using a laser. Cataract removal is when your cloudy … Continue reading Writing with one eye: diary entry of a neurologically unhappy quasi-cyclops
the sentence factory 