Carol grew up in in Pueblo, Colorado. They called it the little Pittsburg of the West. Her dad was a steelworker. Her mom was a lab tech phlebotomist at the hospital. Whenever one of the kids got sick, her mom would bring home a hypodermic needle in her purse to draw some blood. “To see… Continue reading Best Ed Sullivan Show Ever
Category: music
Best Laid Plans
It was a Sunday. I was supposed to be going to a birthday party in Antioch, forty minutes away. But the day had become a comedy of errors. I had sweet-talked my son into installing my new printer and had lured him over with the promise of pizza for lunch. It took him longer to… Continue reading Best Laid Plans
If There’s Music in the Park
We’ve waited all winter for this. It’s finally pay-off time. Every town in the Bay Area springs for a summer concert series in its town park, town square, or patch of grass. If a person is willing to drive, he/she can hear free outdoor concerts six nights a week for almost three months. We’ve waited… Continue reading If There’s Music in the Park
FOMO, YOLO, and YOYO
You know summer has begun when you are constantly checking your email and calendar to make sure you’re not missing out on some live music that evening. Every town has its own series of live music. If you are willing to drive, you can hear it six evenings a week for free, from June to… Continue reading FOMO, YOLO, and YOYO
Pennies from Heaven
When I was sixteen, I saved up my babysitting money and went downtown to Cottage Grove Avenue in Des Moines, where there was a head shop filled with incense, hanging beads, roach clips, black light posters and tie dye. Although I wasn’t a pothead (I didn’t smoke cigarettes either), I enjoyed the ambience of the… Continue reading Pennies from Heaven
The Classy Meet-up Dancing Bar
There’s an outdoor dancing venue behind an Italian restaurant in downtown Pleasanton, a city which sits near a major crossroads of two freeways, north/south 680 and east /west 580, a few dozen miles east of San Francisco. The people come from all over on Thursday nights from 6:00 to 10:00 in the summer for live… Continue reading The Classy Meet-up Dancing Bar
The Chicken Church and Other Tableside Travels
I used to travel, back in my twenties before marriage, before kids. Now I stay home with an older sister (who would otherwise be in a nursing home), one normal dog, and one little weirdo. But I still get to travel. My friends are in Austria, Indonesia, Hawaii, Tahoe, and Guatemala, as we speak. They… Continue reading The Chicken Church and Other Tableside Travels
The Uses for a Nine Year Old
My Girl Friday (who works for me on Mondays) has a daughter, who sometimes comes along with her to work. Now that her daughter is nine, she is useful in many ways. 1. She entertains my dogs. 2. She entertains my sister, giving her someone to watch. 3. She brings music into the house, since… Continue reading The Uses for a Nine Year Old
Dive Bar Dancing
I never imagined that I’d still be dancing in bars at this age. But hey, a girl’s got to dance, and in the winter the live music in in the bars. So here I sit, waiting for my girl friend, who is dumping her grumpy guy tonight to come dance with me. She’s got a… Continue reading Dive Bar Dancing
The Nuts in My Batter
I have judge-y friends. Two years ago: “Why’d you go and get a puppy?” Last year: “Why don’t you ever travel? I’d die if I didn’t get to travel.” Last month: “Why did you get another dog? As though you don’t have enough to do!” Last week: “Why did you take your sister? You have… Continue reading The Nuts in My Batter
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 