Give up the funk

I walked past a car wash on  my way to a meeting this morning, the manual labor kind, not the kind with rotating  mops or jet sprayers.  Three guys were washing one of those “compact” (ha!) Hummers and jamming out to Parliament.  Watching them, I realized my midwinter funk must have lifted because I didn’t have to [...]

Open letter to the grown-assed man in line in front of me at the supermarket yesterday

My dear sir,
Hi there.  You don’t know me.  I’m the woman who was behind you at Kroger’s yesterday.  You know, the one pretending to be mesmerized by the new Skittles gum and the gooshy flavor capsules in the new and improved Extra while you were being an ass to the cashier. 
I’ll admit, it was astonishing when Susan, [...]

Ernest Shackleton

I’m officially obsessed. 
This book is great.
This movie is great.
Old boy lost his boat to the ice pack in Antarctica, spent 22 months hanging out on the icebergs, navigated a freakin’ lifeboat through 800 miles of unforgiving waters by dead reckoning, and managed to get all 28 of his men back in one piece.  What can I say, [...]

Lent

Lapsed Catholic here, in search of ritual to center me for the coming year.  Ultimately, my lenten “sacrifices” have all boiled down to a selfish desire to lose weight.  So pedestrian, so boring, and always doomed to failure. 
I’ve had a warped relationship with food and my body since I can remember.  Food as punishment, food [...]

Good Ole Boy Network

Last night, I attended my first ever college alumni event held off campus.  (One reunion was quite enough, thank you very much!)  The venue was changed at the last minute from a downtown club with a tradition of racism that extends into the present.  Once the venue was changed to a museum housed in an [...]

Best Day Ever

Yesterday started as a reasonable facsimile of any other weekday.  I considered getting up early to exercise.  I remained in bed until the last possible second, rushed to get ready for work, pounded my coffee because I couldn’t find my travel mug, and set out to the car.  I turned the key, and rather than [...]

Reverse Culture Shock

When I returned from my too brief stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer in early June of 2000, I didn’t put too much effort into reassimilating into my American existence.  The plan was to return to my village as soon as things cooled off after the parliamentary elections in July.  I’d walk out of grocery [...]

PMS: Natural Disaster or Emotional Compass?

I’m generally a pretty easygoing person.  My keel is more even than not, but a few times per year, I become pre-menstrually crazy.  Now I’m just emerging from one such week of crazy, so perhaps my perspective is still hormonally addled, but I’m beginning to think that I would prefer to have the crazy come every month, and [...]

Bears or Colts: who do I want to lose more?

I’ve been grappling with this decision for a week and a half and I can’t put on a decision much longer.  Here are my lists of reasons to cheer against both teams:
Bears: 
1.)  Over twenty years later, I’m still bitter about the Superbowl Shuffle
2.)  Tony Dungy  was robbed when he got fired from Tampa and deserves [...]

Gimme some sugar

I’m fascinated by all exchanges of goods and services that do not involve conventional currency. If you look for it, it’s everywhere. Trade can be heartwarming or heartbreaking.
The most heartbreaking instances I’ve witnessed have been overseas, young women trading sex for their school fees and a warm Coca-cola after school. Back in the US, it’s [...]