Shrugging Off the Nudge

There’s the problem of writer’s block, where the spirit is willing but nothing seems to rise out of the creative void. I’ve rarely had writer’s block in the sense of not being able to write something. Words have poured out …
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She Barked!

A week ago this past Saturday, Mom and I traveled with Diamondqueen, That Poor Man, and the Hooligans to an adoption event called My Furry Valentine. There we met up with a sweet beagle mix and her foster mother. Mom …
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Missing Rusty

Thursday night (actually the wee hours of Friday morning) I was partly in shock, partly numb from crying. I wandered the kitchen and living room, gathering toys, leash, medicines, and putting them in the closet in my room so Mom …
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A Cincinnati Christmas in the 1960s

In 1989 I decided I wanted to do something different from the usual Christmas card. I was smitten with Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory. I loved the way they captured family members …
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Posted in Christmas, Family Stories, Good Times, Holidays & Celebrations, Looking Back, My (Mis)Adventures as a Writer, Things I Like to Write About, Writing & Other Things | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

One Small Star

In memory of Dunblane and Newtown… About 1 a.m. last Friday morning, I shut down the computer, went upstairs, and bundled myself from top to toe. I sneaked out the front door without rousing Rusty and made my way to …
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Darkness in the Season of Light

Like everyone else, I struggled all day Friday to come to terms with the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. There is no coming to terms with it. To think of those babies dying at the hands of that monster is too …
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Less Than Two Weeks

Mom was released from the hospital on December 4, which meant she was home for St. Nicholas Day. We exchanged our gifts at lunchtime, and in the evening we went to Diamondqueen’s for a small celebration. Mom was still unsteady …
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Making God Laugh

At about 6:08, Emma Brand and Andy discuss her sciatica. (“Poor old soul, she’s started to walk crooked.” 14:12) Woody Allen is credited with saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” God must have had …
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Sciatica and Charlie Brown

Everything was fine when I left the house around 8:50 this morning. I was on my way to take a stress test at Bethesda North, and Mom had just finished cleaning up in the kitchen and was going to sit …
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Posted in Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, The Hooligan Chronicles, Things I Like to Write About | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Sister Did It!

She whined, griped, cursed her lack of common sense and judgment, and swore (once more) that she’d never do it again: My sister, Diamondqueen, completed 50,000 words for the 2012 NaNoWriMo. Not only do I congratulate her, I chastise myself …
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