My Perfect High School OCD Job

Posted in babysitting, bag boy, bar codes, Costco, grocery store, high school, McDonald's, memoir, OCD, scanners, teacher, uniforms, Wonder BreadLeave a comment

(re-run( After babysitting for every rug rat in my neighborhood and getting short-changed by a few of their parents (the going rate was 50 cents an hour), I moved into real jobs with time cards and pay stubs. The first one was as a window clerk at Mc Donald’s. I was fast. I could take… Continue reading My Perfect High School OCD Job

The Red-tailed Hawk and the Toddler Fence

Posted in birds, California, children, humor, hunting, Lindsay Wildlife Museum, memoir, Mount Diablo State Park, nature, outdoors, relationships, toddler, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) I’m a bird lover. I feed the song birds and the finches. I have an ongoing water supply in the form of a fountain in my back yard. I’ve planted native plants for the hummingbirds. When I hike, I am thrilled to find a hawk feather to add to my hat. Twenty-odd years ago,… Continue reading The Red-tailed Hawk and the Toddler Fence

The Good Karma Post

Posted in beach, Chronicle, department store, energy, fabric, Karma, memoir, San Francisco, shoppingLeave a comment

Sunday morning, I was in my beach town, so I ran down to the post office to buy a Sunday Chronicle out of the newspaper dispenser machine thingie.  Another guy was parking at the same time, and we walked up together. “I’ll bet we want the same paper,” I said. “The Chronicle,” the guy said.… Continue reading The Good Karma Post

Worst Weekend Getaway Ever

Posted in college, firsts, humor, memoir, relationships, roommate, VenezuelaLeave a comment

(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, I learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Worst Weekend Getaway Ever

Remembering my Gay Boyfriend

Posted in antique, antique store, beach, boyfriend, dating, gays, girl friends, kiss, memoir, memory, motorcycle, photo shoot, photographs, piano, summerLeave a comment

(re-run) My little beach house is kind of magical, in that I can get away from the rat race and think about stuff I haven’t thought of in a very long while. It’s partly due to the fact that my beach house is my dumping house, where everything to be sorted goes to live until… Continue reading Remembering my Gay Boyfriend

A Great Dane Story

Posted in animal training, Barbie, birds and bees, dog manners, dogs, friends, Great Danes, humor, Iowa, Ken, memoir, parents, relationships, teensLeave a comment

(re-run) When I was almost thirteen, I hung out at my neighbor Bonnie’s house, just one block away from mine, but it was different world.  Both her parents worked full time, so we teens could hang there with no parental supervision. We were supervised, though, by the family’s Great Danes. I remember three dogs, but… Continue reading A Great Dane Story

Creative People Make Messes

Posted in art, children, computer, creativity, directors, doll house, dolls, illustrators, memoir, relationships, sewing, sewing machine, writers

(re-run) If you’re an orderly person like Monk on the TV show of the same name, this column is not for you. You crave things in place, all the time. Otherwise, you get agitated. The other side of the coin is the person who is so busy creating that he/she doesn’t notice the mess. When… Continue reading Creative People Make Messes