Category: Uncategorized

  • DOG WHEN MOVING

    DOG WHEN MOVING

    The first time we put our house up for sale, we put a large part of our belongings in a storage cube on our driveway,  The response from our Golden Pyrenees, Sheldon Buttercup, was immediate. He’s a shelter dog abandoned several times, so I knew what he was thinking when he started shaking, drooling, and…

  • THE BIG HOT POTATO: OPIOIDS

    THE BIG HOT POTATO: OPIOIDS

    I had oral surgery many years ago by an excellent crack squad army of professional surgeons.  The lead doctor, a first-generation American-born citizen, was very proud of his family of immigrants who moved to Raleigh many years ago.  Perhaps you have been in this situation: the point, before the surgery, when the doctor explains how…

  • MANIPULATION

    MANIPULATION

    When I teach composition at the college level, I tell my students on the first day:  “If you have failed this course once, stay after class so you can make an appointment with me.” I hold office hours every day after all my classes for all my students. I give all my students 20 minutes…

  • FAKE FAMILY PHOTOS

    FAKE FAMILY PHOTOS

    On the first day of class, I give my students the same direction:  “This is the hand signal. [I show them a hand signal] When you see it, quietly gather your belongings and leave the room.”  One time, when I saw a student having emotional problems, I used it.  After the other students left the…

  • VOCABULARY

    VOCABULARY

    Defense Lawyer, Alan Jackson: “Was the defendant gesticulating?” Katie McLaughlin, a firefighter and paramedic: “I don’t know what that means?” Alan Jackson: “Gesticulating?” McLaughlin: “Yes. I don’t know what that means.” Alan Jackson: “Was the defendant waving her arms?” __Testimony during the re-trial of Karen Read, Mass. vs. Read, May 2025. I was fortunate. The…

  • CLASS ANXIETY

    CLASS ANXIETY

    My MFA graduation lecture at Bennington College was titled “Class Anxiety in Literature and Writing.” This morning, I was reminded that I am a creature of habit.   Before we bought our current home, we rented a small house nearby. On most early mornings, you could see me on my lawn, fussing with plants and the…

  • ICEBERGS

    ICEBERGS

    I think this iceberg image is a fine way to understand people and characters.  After many years, for instance, I am reading a book written by someone whose ideas I still value, but nonetheless, he is an asshole, who years ago chose someone, allowed her to jump the velvet rope, because she gave him so…

  • Getting Back at People or Solving a Problem to Make the World a Better Place: Empathy

    Getting Back at People or Solving a Problem to Make the World a Better Place: Empathy

    My husband and I have a problem where we live: our accents. We can’t hide the fact that we are from the North.  We have another problem: unlike most of the other residents in North Carolina, we are bleeding-heart liberal Democrats. In a town as small as ours, as soon as Trump was re-elected, we…

  • THAT TIME OF YEAR

    THAT TIME OF YEAR

    I have been a member of Interfolio since graduate school. I still use it whenever I am looking for a job.  Current students should get an account now.  Once you become a member, you can ask your teachers, professors for confidential letters of recommendation now, near the end of the semester, NOT years later. Waiting…

  • When I Am Sent Into Space, I Won’t Be Wearing Makeup, Hair Gel, Or PERFUME, Here’s Why…

    When I Am Sent Into Space, I Won’t Be Wearing Makeup, Hair Gel, Or PERFUME, Here’s Why…