So, it’s been a few months. I could make up a whole raft of reasons for the radio silence, but the truth is job-related. Last July, I was laid off from the job I loved, and not long after my last post in February, there were signs of a happy ending/soft landing. In a fit of … Continue reading Love, loss, hope and backup plans: Making now count
Tag: lifestyle
This holiday season, my sister got me a pair of socks that sprung a hole the first time I wore them and a pen my brother-in-law brought back from a trip to China whose individual components waged a civil war in my coat pocket. (The pieces are still in there.) She also got me a … Continue reading Reductio ad Essentialis:Diet time at The Landfill I Call Home
Dear Muslims who are terrified of being collateral damage because of yesterday and white men who are terrified of being collateral damage because of all the shootings and massacres. I do not think all of you are terrorists. Sincerely: Amy PS I still think all the legislators who are worshipping at the feet of Wayne LaPierre … Continue reading Dear Non-terrorist Muslims & White Men; Dear Impending Grandson: A pair of open letters
The house is so quiet. No one needs to go outside before we go to bed. There are no clacking feet in the middle of the night, the prelude to a trip down the stairs and outside into the dark. No one needs to go outside first thing in the morning. And no … Continue reading A bottle of wine and a cat: Surviving the first dogless days
I’m writing this with a view. Tuki is lying with her head on my outstretched leg. In two hours, she will be gone and I will be bereft. I’ve never had to put a dog down before. In between writing, I put my hand on her head and stroke the space from just above her … Continue reading Goodbye, Tuki, and thank you for 15 amazing years.
By now, everyone is probably experiencing what it is they experience after a major tragic event that ripples out from wherever it happened and into their daily routine. The day after ISIL/Daesh shared its latest commentary on modern civilization, one of my friends posted this story. It’s dense, but worthwhile for anyone who wants a … Continue reading Muslims, Jews, History, Cities: A Dispatch from Refugee Heaven
Being woken out of a sound sleep by angry screaming is not my favorite way to be woken up. I much prefer my usual way of being woken up – a hug and a kiss. Then, Sweetheart hands me a cup of hot coffee. Sometime after going to bed Saturday night and well before Sunday’s … Continue reading Screamers, speeders, and drawn guns: Just another night in the neighborhood
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”
You know life is getting stressful when the prospect of multiple injections in your mouth followed by the replacement of every filling on two quadrant’s worth of teeth sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon. To be fair, a part of that is my new-ish dentist, Dr. J and her hygienist, L. Dr. … Continue reading A trip to the dentist, featuring “tooth-colored” filling material and a few good bands
So, the Academy Awards were this weekend. We watched a bit of them, which sparked a thought about the day before. Sweetheart was at work and I was performing my weekly “take a lame-ass stab at bringing some order to the Landfill I Call Home” exercise in futility when the phone rang. It was R, calling to … Continue reading A walk in the park, and why there should be an Academy of Cashiering Arts and Sciences
the sentence factory 