Theft of your Intellectual Property

If you are a writer, then what you write belongs to you as your intellectual property.  Be careful of critique groups and the people with whom you share your work. You must have an iron-clad agreement that your work is your work, and no one else is allowed to use it. This is a sad… Continue reading Theft of your Intellectual Property

First Date with a Stoner

(re-run) You said yes to the guy who asked you out two years ago and you turned him down. Now he has shown up at a dancing venue in Concord on the same day you wondered whatever happened to him. You see, he lives in San Francisco and you live in Suburbia. Then you agree… Continue reading First Date with a Stoner

Loneliest Study Abroad Ever

After three months in South America and six weeks of student teaching Catholic high school girls, I headed to Burgos, Spain, with 30 students and a handful of professors from Iowa State and the University of Iowa. It would be my way of earning the final credits of my dual degree. Linda, a high school… Continue reading Loneliest Study Abroad Ever

DUI Date

(re-run) Lesley was a college freshman at UOP 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 hi to… Continue reading DUI Date

Buffalo Bill Meets Annie Oakley

(re-run) Aaron met Katie on Plenty of Fish. She didn’t message him back for months. For their first date, he took her duck hunting. She brought her own gun. He brought a boat and the friend who owned it. The trio didn’t’ talk much because they had to be quiet to get a duck. It… Continue reading Buffalo Bill Meets Annie Oakley

Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

(re-run) Back in high school in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, we did whatever we could to stir up some fun and sometimes some trouble. It was a simple existence: go to school, do homework, think about and look for boys. With no cell phones or social media to organize anything, kids spent a… Continue reading Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

A Funeral, an Appendix, and a Dead Concert

(re-run) PK lived in Jersey when her childhood friend’s mum was terminally ill in Boston.  Her friend called to say her mother had died, and PK woke up, wanting to go to the funeral and surprise her friend.  She felt bad but thought it was the heat.  She loaded up her three-year-old daughter and took… Continue reading A Funeral, an Appendix, and a Dead Concert

Motion Sickness and Me

I have a friend who likes to apply her make-up in my car after I’ve picked her up. That way she can save time while I drive. I get to drive in the HOV lane with a carpool. All was good until the day she sprayed perfume on herself with me a foot away from… Continue reading Motion Sickness and Me

Age is Just a Number

The other day, a woman and her husband’s great aunt came over to buy pink floral plates for the younger woman’s daughter’s baby shower. They spent an hour as the mom held up dishes, asking the older woman her opinion. “I’m 98,” the great aunt said, “and there’s nothing wrong with me!” “I’m 71,” I… Continue reading Age is Just a Number

Theft of your Intellectual Property

(re-run) If you are a writer, then what you write belongs to you as your intellectual property.  Be careful of critique groups and the people with whom you share your work. You must have an iron-clad agreement that your work is your work, and no one else is allowed to use it. This is a… Continue reading Theft of your Intellectual Property