Category: culture

Keeping Up with the Culture

Posted in best, culture, daughter, ethnicity, firsts, grad school, humor, last, memoir, Midwestern, Omaha, racist, Redbull, relationships, Roots, slavery, son, student, student teaching, Study abroad, teaching, TV, University of Nebraska at Omaha, water cooler, worstLeave a comment

Yesterday my son told me what click bait means. I am woefully out of the loop on many things computer. But I think I have a good handle on pop culture, for the most part. The first time I heard an eighth grade student say awesome, it sounded out of place. But that was 35… Continue reading Keeping Up with the Culture

Superstitions

Posted in brain chemistry, chain letters, culture, evil spirits, Friday the 13th, full moon, German, Jack-o-lanterns, memoir, mirrors, mother-in-law, mothers, OCD, sneezing, supernatural, superstitionsLeave a comment

(re-run) She hated Friday, the 13th. She would turn the car around if a black cat crossed the street in front of her. And mirrors?  She once yelled at me when I held my baby up to one in a German restaurant. “That’s bad luck before her first birthday!” My mother-in-law, may she rest in… Continue reading Superstitions

Dancing, Diversity, and a Mole

Posted in California, culture, dancing, diversity, Mare Island, melanoma, memoir, mole, skin cancer, Vallejo, winery, Wobble, Zumba1 Comment

When you live in a lily-white suburban town like I do, it’s good to get out of it and see how diverse our country is becoming. Duh. It’s California.  After a summer of dancing in other lily-white towns (Clayton, Alamo, Moraga) it ‘s nice to be with other cultures, races, skin tones, whatever you want… Continue reading Dancing, Diversity, and a Mole

Dancing, Diversity, and a Mole

Posted in California, culture, dancing, diversity, Mare Island, melanoma, memoir, mole, skin cancer, Vallejo, winery, Wobble, ZumbaLeave a comment

(re-run) When you live in a lily-white suburban town like I do, it’s good to get out of it now and then to see how diverse our country is becoming. Duh. It’s California.  After a summer of dancing in other lily-white towns (Clayton, Alamo, Moraga) it ‘s nice to be with other cultures, races, skin… Continue reading Dancing, Diversity, and a Mole

My Can Runneth Over

Posted in Bolivia, cheese, climate change, culture, fast food, food, garbage, memoir, offspring, party, stomach issuesLeave a comment

(re-run) My garbage can is tiny because when I ordered it, I lived alone. Half the time it was only half filled when I put it out on Monday evenings. My recycle can, twice as big, is always full. Then one of my offspring returned to the roost, with their little dog.  The can got… Continue reading My Can Runneth Over

My Can Runneth Over

Posted in Bolivia, cheese, climate change, culture, fast food, food, garbage, memoir, offspring, party, stomach issuesLeave a comment

My garbage can is tiny because when I ordered it, I lived alone. Half the time it was only half filled when I put it out on Monday evenings. My recycle can, twice as big, is always full. Then one of my offspring returned to the roost, with their little dog.  The can got fuller,… Continue reading My Can Runneth Over

Superstitions

Posted in brain chemistry, chain letters, culture, evil spirits, Friday the 13th, full moon, German, Jack-o-lanterns, memoir, mirrors, mother-in-law, mothers, OCD, sneezing, supernatural, superstitionsLeave a comment

(re-run) She hated Friday the 13th. She’d turn the car around if a black cat crossed the street in front of her. And mirrors?  She once yelled at me when I held my baby up to one in a German restaurant. “That’s bad luck before her first birthday!” My mother-in-law, may she rest in peace,… Continue reading Superstitions

Superstitions

Posted in brain chemistry, chain letters, culture, evil spirits, Friday the 13th, full moon, German, Jack-o-lanterns, memoir, mirrors, mother-in-law, mothers, OCD, sneezing, supernatural, superstitionsLeave a comment

(re-run) She hated Friday the 13th. She would turn the car around if a black cat crossed the street in front of her. And mirrors?  She once yelled at me when I held my baby up to one in a German restaurant. “That’s bad luck before her first birthday!” My mother-in-law, may she rest in… Continue reading Superstitions

Jack London — Was He a Racist?

Posted in Ayran, California, Call of the Wild, Coronavirus, Covid 19, culture, Dr. Seuss, Hitler, Jack London, John Wayne, pandemic, racism, racist, Spanish Flu, The Scarlet Plague, To Build a Fire, White Fang, white privilege, white supremacistLeave a comment

Who doesn’t love the story The Call of the Wild? I used to teach it and also Jack London’s doomsday story called To Build a Fire when I taught 7th grade in Council Bluffs, Iowa. White Fang is another Jack London story that my 8th grade remedial boys liked to check out from my personal… Continue reading Jack London — Was He a Racist?

Superstitions

Posted in brain chemistry, chain letters, culture, evil spirits, Friday the 13th, full moon, German, Jack-o-lanterns, memoir, mirrors, mother-in-law, mothers, OCD, sneezing, supernatural, superstitions2 Comments

She hated Friday the 13th. She would turn the car around if a black cat crossed the street in front of her. And mirrors?  She once yelled at me when I held my baby up to one in a German restaurant. “That’s bad luck before her first birthday!” My mother-in-law, may she rest in peace,… Continue reading Superstitions