Month: November 2009

  • Husband as Muse

      A few weeks ago, I danced over to Jazz’s blog and enjoyed a welcome surprise: her post that day had been hand-written. It startled me how much I liked seeing her handwriting and not just her typing; it reminded me of the individual behind the blog; it gave me a glimpse into her Herishness. […]

  • Ridding the Planet of the Scourge That Is Breathing and Upright Turkeys

    Sometimes I get all ranty on my students. This happens, in particular, when they kvetch about having to take classes “that don’t have anything to do with what I’m going into”–although, were they at the keyboard, that sentiment would read more like “taht dont have any thing to with WHat im goin in to.” Whenever […]

  • Sweet Like Sugar

    I haven’t seen the Spiderman, Iron Man, or Batman movies of recent years. I don’t applaud politicians who promise to change our lives. I don’t get all weepy over photos of my grandmother sitting in a big leather chair, doing her tatting. I sometimes think members of the military are in it for the job–you […]

  • And People Say Kids Don’t Pick Up After Themselves

      With the friendliest of intentions, one of our neighbors handed us a stack of magazines the other week. They were very good magazines, but the realities of life mean it would be three years before we would ever actually read them. Clearly, while some of them could be donated to the rack at the […]

  • Still At It

    Since I have stacks of papers this week–both revisions and new essays–I’m going to continue to milk the anniversary in this post. Here are a couple of videos wherein I babble about our weekend. The first video has ice and gives you a spin of the kitchen. This next video has a picture booklet and […]

  • Bestill

      My dad was the person who taught me to be comfortable with silence. We could get in the car and drive for twenty minutes without a word being spoken. While his and my mother’s relationship ultimately cracked under the weight of that silence, for me, the daughter, his quiet felt benign, reassuring, a safe […]

  • Just Jam It All into the Inbox and Yell ‘F*** It’ A Lot

    There is a National Association of Professional Organizers. In the Denver area, a professional organizer makes $75/hour. My sister, overwhelmed and anxious in the face of her stacks of belongings, uses a professional organizer. In fact, she’s committed to drawing upon the inheritance from our dad’s and grandmother’s estates to pay this organizer until the […]

  • Hello, PetCo? I’d Like to Cancel My Line of Credit

      When I met him, my husband was a naturalist. Raise your hand if your first thought, after reading that sentence, went a little something like “Jocelyn’s husband was a nudist????” Now put your hand down, Tinkerbell. You’re all alone in front of your computer, after all, which means it’s kind of queer to keep […]

  • A Guest Post from My Pal Jim Who Grew Up in Wisconsin, Spent Many Years in Minnesota, and Now Lives in Palm Springs

    So, yes, the post below is the latest pinch hitting by my friend, Jim; in past times, he’s also written about performing in GREASE and seeing Elizabeth Taylor. In this latest, he considers his move to California a couple of years back. Enjoy his musings, as I jet off to Colorado this weekend to help […]

  • You Want to Come to Their Potluck

    I noted in my last post that my body is descended from a long line of human couches. I like to think our cushions are covered in the softest of plush upholsteries and that those allowed to fluff our throw pillows are both deserving and grateful. Below is a literal line-up of my genetic line: […]