Author: Jocelyn
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A Lion, a Giraffe, and a Picnic by a Lake
Introduction from Diane First, a bit about me. I was born in Boston and spent my teenage years wrestling with an urge to get out and see the world. For almost 20 years, I’ve taught linguistics at the University of Leeds in England. In 2004, I took a career break to go backpacking and met…
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Sanctuary
Introduction from Diane First, a bit about me. I was born in Boston and spent my teenage years wrestling with an urge to get out and see the world. For almost 20 years, I’ve taught linguistics at the University of Leeds in England. In 2004, I took a career break to go backpacking and met…
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The Second Day of Spring Break in 30 Messages to My Husband
1) I had Zinema popcorn for lunch. NOW THAT’S A HARDCORE SPRING BREAK MOVE. 2) I called to check on my stupid broken phone and was greeted by a bewildering “NOOO” shouted into the receiver when Ponytail Guy answered. After the shout, he hung up. So I called back, and he answered again, but…
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Framed by a Madman
“This is fricking insane!” I yelled at the paint on the walls periodically as I spent half an hour trying to place a single piece into my new puzzle. Jeezus, that paint wasn’t wearing well. Cracks everywhere. The slate color had always seemed appealing; mentally, I had complimented the previous owners for choosing a tone…
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A War Story
This post is the second in a series of four guest essays written by my friend Diane, whom I met during our family’s year in Turkey: First, a bit about me. I was born in Boston and spent my teenage years wrestling with an urge to escape from the suburbs and get out into the…
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Open Arms: Syrians in Turkey
This post is the first in a series of four guest essays written by my friend Diane, whom I met during our year in Turkey: First, a bit about me. I was born in Boston and spent my teenage years wrestling with an urge to escape from the suburbs and get out into the world.…
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Navigationally Challenged
A couple of nights ago, we sat in a “preparing your child for high school” meeting at the middle school. Several times, the speaker referred to the date of an open house “which was in the email we sent out last week.” Leaning towards Byron, I whispered, “Did you see a date in that email?”…
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I Recommend
This Little Red Hen has spent a great deal of the past year with her beak tipped to the clouds, anxiously clucking “The sky is falling!” I could detail the challenges of 2016, but we all know what happened. For some people, it actually wasn’t that tough of a year. Their presidential candidate won the…
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I Suck at Badges. Reading Emails. Following Rules.
“Do you have your badge with you?” He smoothed his lapel, his gum chewing at odds with suit and tie. “Yeah, I do,” I assured him. “It’s buried somewhere in my bag, but if you hang on a minute, I’ll set this other stuff down and dig for it.” My arms were laden with folders,…
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Walk of Shame Snow Woman
Three years ago, back in 2013 when good things still seemed possible, I started a serial on Facebook involving a snow lady we’d made in the front yard. Periodically, when we weren’t shoveling out from the latest blizzard or fending off mid-winter fluesies, I’d toss out another post about this snow lady and her imagined…