(This post first ran in 2011) In the continuous stream of NPR that is my life, I just learned that Jerri Nielson died of breast cancer. Dr. Nielson wrote a book I’ve read more than once, and that has now become the final solidification of my vow not to lend out well-loved books. Her book, Ice … Read more
Last night I watched a TMC documentary: And The Oscar Goes To. Saying that I wept is about as meaningful as saying I sneezed—I am the easiest tears-mark in the world. Something about seeing actors fall on their proverbial knees in gratitude, brings out my crybaby side. I cried hardest listening to Tom Hanks talk about … Read more
Food and Loathing: A Life Measured Out in Calories by Betsy Lerner Everyone hates a fat woman. Or is it that a fat woman thinks everyone hates her? Or does a fat woman simply hate herself? As someone who’s measured her worth in dress sizes, waistbands, and, when in the midst of bravery, … Read more
Imagine this: Someone asks you to marry them, and because you are so eager (desperate?) to wed, you say yes—even though you don’t know them, don’t know what they expect, and don’t know what they’ll bring to the table besides the (gender-free) shiny ring they push up on your finger. That’s kind of what it’s … Read more
The perfect first line. How we chase it, scrambling phrases and our brains, seeking magic words to pop open our stories like magic keys.( Sometimes I want to create an entire book because a great beginning sentence pops into my head.) Tougher, can be that last line; Tougher because it’s culminating an entire world. … Read more