When your Subconscious Self is Screaming at You

(re-run) I just unpacked my one-thousand-book collection. Ten years ago, I packed it up and stored it in Rubbermaid tubs in a damp garage two blocks from the ocean. I was in the middle of a divorce, and I sold all the bookcases in my divorce house so that I wouldn’t have to move them.… Continue reading When your Subconscious Self is Screaming at You

Back in my Fat Pants Again

It sounds like a country western song. “Well, my true love done left me. He mosied ‘round the bend. It makes me sad that I’m heading back to my fat pants again!” In the winter, when I can hide under many layers, I am thinnest. Maybe it’s all the no-calorie tea and hot water that… Continue reading Back in my Fat Pants Again

Hold the Crunch

(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in Jif, the new peanut butter to rival Skippy. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months… Continue reading Hold the Crunch

Cut Loose on a Saturday Afternoon

(re-run) “I like the way you dance,” he said to me that Saturday afternoon. Margo and I had gone to Vino Godfather, a cool little winery in an old Victorian house on Mare Island in Vallejo. The island used to be a naval base, judging from the abandoned barracks on the way to the winery.… Continue reading Cut Loose on a Saturday Afternoon

Spring Cleaning in February

(re-run, pre-pandemic) It started with a koala bear.  A bunch of them.  Some musicians were having a fundraiser for Australia, the fires, and the koalas.  It was a donation at the door.  Two and a half hours of music, and I knew three of the performers. We got there early and sat in the third… Continue reading Spring Cleaning in February

When your Subconscious Self is Screaming at You

(re-run) I just unpacked my one-thousand-book collection. Ten years ago, I packed it up and stored it in Rubbermaid tubs in a damp garage two blocks from the ocean. I was in the middle of a divorce, and I sold all the bookcases in my divorce house so that I wouldn’t have to move them.… Continue reading When your Subconscious Self is Screaming at You

Hold the Crunch

(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in 100 degree… Continue reading Hold the Crunch

Don’t Judge a Book

(re-run) Of all the pick-up lines I’ve ever heard, the best one came yesterday at the Walnut Creek Octoberfest. “Now those are some sensible shoes.” Yes, I had on one-inch-heel black booties because I was dressed as a German beer garden maid, and they were the best shoes with white knee socks. “They’re good for… Continue reading Don’t Judge a Book

A Cruel Joke of a Disease

It has been a tough week.  When you sister has early-onset Alzheimer’s and you witness firsthand how it is robbing her of the stuff we all take for granted, it’s hard. How to hold a fork. How to get it to your mouth. How to remember to swallow when drinking. Sis is mostly nonverbal these… Continue reading A Cruel Joke of a Disease