Jeff Bezos Rules the World

Macy’s, Sears, J. Crew, Radio Shack, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Payless Shoe Source, closed or closing stores in 2018. Borders, Barnes and Noble, and indie bookstores everywhere are closing. Mom and Pop shops are no more. What Ebay and Etsy did to antique stores, Amazon is doing to all the rest of the brick and mortar… Continue reading Jeff Bezos Rules the World

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

Lesley was a college freshman at University of the Pacific in Stockton, when a big football player type guy asked her on a date. Lesley had already met his roommate, so she thought she was safe with Chad and said yes. Chad took Lesley to a party, but when his roommate came up to say… Continue reading Stupid Is as Stupid Does

Almost Toast

Marlene and her friend Beth came out to California from New Hampshire after college to work for Bank of America. They were roommates, and each made a new friend at work. Each new friend brought another friend to the party (plus one more) until they were a group of seven recent college graduates, living in… Continue reading Almost Toast

Baby It’s Cold Outside

My large chorus has performed Baby, It’s Cold Outside twice in the past week. A classic holiday tune, it has been called rapey by Millennials online. As in, the guy wants to date-rape his gal with the swell-looking hair. Baby It’s Cold Outside was written in the 1940’s as a romantic song of seduction. But… Continue reading Baby It’s Cold Outside

Ruthie Ann’s Designing Man

Ruthie Ann worked as a graphic designer in Cortez, Colorado. She met an architect named Edmond through her position on the design review board. He was about twenty years older but smart and distinguished looking with his gray hair and eyes. She liked the work he’d done around the Durango train station. Edmond asked Ruthie… Continue reading Ruthie Ann’s Designing Man

Teddy Bear With Back Hair

When I lived in Omaha for eight years in my twenties, I dated almost all the eligible men I met in my age range, at least once — shorter guys, smokers, non-dancers, younger guys, poorer guys (I was a school teacher!) and guys with facial hair. But I NEVER dated a guy with back hair… Continue reading Teddy Bear With Back Hair

Total Eclipse of the Date

The second-to-last solar eclipse over the continental U.S. was on Monday, February 26, 1979. Claudette worked in the x-ray department at Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. She and her co-workers took some x-ray film and went outside to look at the sun through the film. They were not in the path of totality (had… Continue reading Total Eclipse of the Date

Bricks, Ricks, and Cardboard

The college mixer was hosted by the men in Lorch House in Friley Hall, in the heart of the Iowa State campus. My house, Tappan, the top two floors of Barton Hall, a girls’ dorm, was invited. Yes, I am old. Yes, dorm floors are co-ed now. This was in the days of the dinosaurs.… Continue reading Bricks, Ricks, and Cardboard