Category: Uncategorized

  • The Life of a Showgirl Isn’t

    I have never been a fan, but I gotta say that Taylor Swift’s new album is just terrible. I kept saying, “Ah, come on!” while listening. Idioms, clichés, overused phrases, no original ideas, expository, feels rushed. I couldn’t connect the songs to the theme. Her pop, white rapper song, “Wood,” is raunchy but in a…

  • SAFETY IN NUMBERS 

    In my second year out of high school, I met a young man at a restaurant–my girlfriends advised me to meet him somewhere public on the first date. “Always park the car near the windows so you can see it,” my other friend advised me. He was there, seated in a booth, ordered the food…

  • DAVID DUCHOVNY AND ELIZABETH GILBERT

    DAVID DUCHOVNY AND ELIZABETH GILBERT

    Actor David Duchovny recently told someone I admire that poetry is useless but necessary.   Zzzzzz. Do a Google search.  Like many of his comments, Duchovny is not the first person to use this analogy, a clunky way of saying that he’s so much deeper than other people.   How quickly celebrities rise in the book publishing…

  • WE MOVED BACK TO NEW YORK CITY

    WE MOVED BACK TO NEW YORK CITY

    We missed it so much that we decided to move back to New York City.  My husband is excited to start his new teaching position.   Today we bought bagels at Zabar’s and the first time we left Sheldon alone in our apartment, but when we came back home, it was apparent from the position of…

  • PATIENCE

    PATIENCE

    My cab broadsided another cab in an intersection, and my face slammed into the plexiglas divider, my nose broke, and my mouth was severely cut on the coin cup. When the ambulence arrived, the police told my cab driver to hold my purse and stand over there. When I was extracted from the cab, he…

  • ELON FOREST

    ELON FOREST

    We live near Elon University and walk around Lake Mary Nell with Sheldon, our dog, several times a week. (Did you know that anyone in our community can fish in that lake, which is protected by the biology department? Feeding others is a #mitzvah.) This new initiative is excellent news and a top-tier #mitzvah: “The…

  • THE LSAT

    THE LSAT

    I signed up for this event because I am interested in hearing what LawHub has to say to students about studying for the LSAT:  From my vantage point, I know students who are struggling with reading comprehension, and I recognize the importance of the English Department to the undergraduate Law Department. If you read these…

  • TEACHING POETRY

    TEACHING POETRY

    My students are SO bright!  They noticed and identified every subversive, poetic image in these lyrics by Sly & The Family Stone.   That’s why teaching poetry is so important. I hand out a packet of poems and lyrics, and my students have a full day or two to mark it up, circle, and underline whatever…

  • SELLING OUR HOME

    SELLING OUR HOME

    SELLING OUR HOME Everyone in our circle, including our neighbors, is aware that our home has been listed for sale multiple times, due to our past experiences with real estate agents.  Mostly, it’s been an enormous shock.  Two critical, ethical sins were made regularly. First, since no one else is in the room or can…

  • The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

    The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

    I’m re-reading this seminal book for the millionth time, a refresher course of what I have to offer.  My favorite quote? If you make your business about helping others, you‘ll always have plenty of work. –Chris Guillebeau My husband and I interviewed Chris when we lived in New York, and we found him passionate and…