Saturday last weekend, I was at a funeral for the husband of a coworker. I know this coworker strictly at work. We’ve never talked about life outside the building; we’re not connected through any social media. During the service, they played a slideshow, trying to capture this man’s life. (Can you ever really capture it?) … Read more
The Kid is learning to read. I mean, he’s in the years-long process of learning to read. He loves to read. Part of that is that he reads things that are interesting to him. It doesn’t have to be books. It doesn’t have to be at his reading level. Whatever is interesting. Sometimes, he likes … Read more
I was in the ER last night (I’m OK—no worries). The two nurses who most often attended me were very personable and seemed to know what they were doing. Except they sucked at putting in IVs. Now, I know my veins are small. Through my cancer journey, I had ample opportunities for nurses and techs … Read more
Today’s post is full of broad sweeping statements. Of course they are not true for every individual in every category. But I’m not going to make a disclaimer in every paragraph because it’s unwieldy to read. Many companies are introducing (or have already introduced) wellness incentive plans regarding various biomarkers of their employees (with questionable … Read more
The best fortune I ever got out of a cookie was over 30 years ago, and while I didn’t keep it, I remember it. “Today is a good day to go moose hunting with a belly dancer.” I haven’t received any that were nearly as entertaining in the intervening decades, though some came close when … Read more
Individual stories are where real emotional power lies. I mean, that 3,000 people were killed is quite something. That millions were killed in WWII is staggering. They’re numbers. They’re big numbers. They’re easy to wield, hard to comprehend. “A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.” Stories? Those are where power … Read more
We went to another Mercury game (WNBA) and there was so much energy in the arena. Years ago, I went to a Suns playoff game and the space was loud 100% of the time. Baseball games sometimes get there, when either something exciting happens or the game is high stakes or both. And it got … Read more
As a person who grew up on the straight and narrow with impressively judgmental parents, there are some things that have taken time for me to stop judging. (There are others I’m still working on…) Some brilliant advice I read somewhere a long time ago: instead of seeing or hearing about someone/something and saying, “that’s … Read more
Setting: a Sunday afternoon in early October in New Jersey. Small college library music room. A week before my 20th birthday, I was a junior in college, studying to be a music teacher. I was sitting in the music room in the campus library, working on a massive score project, when my right ear started … Read more
I get an email every weekday morning from “the universe.” Some of them say just the right thing on just the right day. Some … meh. Today’s tied in to a post that I had a skeleton for already and decided to use the inspiration to fill it in. “Performing miracles, Heat, isn’t a matter of … Read more