Category: Uncategorized
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FAMILY SECRETS
Many, many years ago, out of the blue, my sister-in-law asked my husband and I: “Have you guys ever tried 23 and Me?” She was seated in the back of our car and we were driving her home. This was actually the second time she’d asked us this question in a matter of hours. The…
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Gambling addiction can drain your savings, trigger other addictions, and make you a target for criminals. If you think you have a problem or need an Alanon meeting because you have a family member who is addicted to gambling, there is help.
If you think you have a problem or need an Alanon meeting because someone in your family has a GA, there is help.https://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/content/recovery-program
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I’M STILL LEARNING
I joined the Mah Jongg League last year and there’s still so much to learn. It had been years since I had played, and I was not a very good player when I played years ago. Many years ago, I played with a group of highly skilled, massively competitive Asian women, and each game went…
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Trusting The “Like” Heart
I read or listen to hundreds of books every year. My favorite topics include poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, history, sociology, and criminology. I am Silver Sneakers status and figuring out how things work is very good for my aging brain because it gives my brain new information to attach to the old information. I…
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More Drugs vs. Help
When I was in graduate school in Houston, I worked a summer at a busy upscale grocery store, and employees who worked on the floor were obligated to bag groceries in the checkout area whenever there was a shortage of baggers. I saw the CEO standing behind a register bagging groceries when he was in…
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The Art of the Re-draft
I’m so damn lucky! I have worked with some pretty incredible human beings over the years, Professors from Hunter College, the CWP and the English Department of the University of Houston, and the Bennington Writing Seminars in Vermont. I was given some bad-ass notes on my writing from teachers over the years. Here’s one that…
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The Art of Getting Through the Holidays Including Newly Published Books
I read hundreds of books every year, and therefore my social media analytics are tracking authors of all kinds. Unfortunately, there is one book in particular that would make for a great discussion: “Why is this memoir a good example of how NOT to write a book?” I would be afraid to ask, “What do…
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The Art of Hard Rock
A couple of weeks ago we were traveling westward on Highway 70 from Hillsborough to Mebane, North Carolina, when Deep Purple hacked my husband’s Spotify account. Not one bit sorry, my husband kept his eyes on the road, hands firmly grasped on the steering wheel, and I watched a smile come over his face. Seated…
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The Art of Fine Cookingware
A husband by marriage once leaned in close and spoke in an almost whisper but not quite soft enough for everyone not to hear. “You, buying these biscuits, really helped.” He tilted his head as if he were saying, “You understand where I am going with this. Don’t you?” I did. They were fresh, out…
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The Art of Revenge
I’m not sure if the correct response is we’ve been uninvited or excluded, but a family member is throwing a big deal, at a destination wedding nearby, and my husband and I found out we are not on the guest list through the RSVP function on The Knot. I got a tip and went to see…
Mary Louise Penaz 