But that’s okay. It’s hot, but I am inside, cool and comfortable. I can write anything I want to on this blog, and there is no “Big Brother” censoring me. I can protest the government. I can say how I feel about anything going on in the United States (and there’s plenty). Or, I can […]
Changes: Personal
Never think you are too old to have big changes happen to you! Ten years ago, I left the teaching assignment and school in which I thought I would stay “forever.” (Insert Big Change) A few weeks ago, I left a second school. (Insert Big Change) Two years ago, I had my personal life turned […]
Not Normal
I am not normal and never have I been. I tried throughout high school and just managed to play on the cusp of the social “elites,” but I had better friends on my own. At least until 1971. I don’t know that these people will ever know what an impact they made on my life, […]
Tech People Are the Greatest!
Whew! I thought I was pretty well up to date with the current software, etc, but I am not. I had a final project due for a grad class, and it consisted of 15 videos of me (!!!) answering class questions. When I finally finished the file, it was too big to upload, so I […]
Today is the Birthday I Don’t Want
I know. Birthdays are inevitable, and I just turned 63 today. This year is significant for me because my grandma Lilly died at 63, and I keep thinking about her. I was twelve years old when she died very suddenly, but I thought her age was old. I was young, still a kid with a […]
Natalie Goldberg: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Natalie’s book is in it’s thirtieth year. I started to read it a long time ago, but she wanted the reader to write, and I wasn’t ready to. Sounds stupid, but that was me. I have pushed back against this force inside of me that is tempered by the Bad Critic, the force that is […]
Part Dos: This Really Old House
This is the house on Filbert Street that everyone walks by without a glance. I look at it every time I walk by to get my car and each day there is a change. The balcony sags a little more, a few windows are boarded up, and one day, I saw the beige camp chair! […]
Taking Criticism
I’m in a writing workshop where online classmates and I will “exchange papers,” and try to critique them fairly. We are all grad students, but, I swear, there is always, always, someone who tries to be the English teacher, which is ridiculous because we are all English teachers. I usually struggle to find suggestions for […]
I’m Not Seeing Pretty Today.
Today is June 13, 2018, and it was the last day of my teaching career which began in the fall of 1993. I had just graduated from Millersville University with a master’s in English, and I headed to the community college to teach a night class. I was lucky enough to get one class a […]
Why Did It Happen?
More than ten years ago, I lost a friend, a talented organist. He and I worked together on an art class trying to memorize slides of art and matching them with the painter. I thought it was kind of fun, but Ken did not. He was in his last year, getting ready for his senior […]
