It’s a daunting task to put my experience with Retrospect into perspective. To say it’s been meaningful is a huge understatement. A little background, already familiar to some of you, to others not. Although I never considered myself a writer, some time in 2016 I got it in my head to write a memoir about…
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It’s a daunting task to put my experience with Retrospect into perspective. To say it’s been meaningful is a huge understatement. A little background, already familiar to some of you, to others not. Although I never considered myself a writer, some time in 2016 I got it in my head to write a memoir about…
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I’ll never have plastic surgery. I always say it’s because I’m determined to age gracefully, naturally, but mostly it’s because I can’t afford it, and I’m afraid of pain and/or a bad result. But each morning I Photoshop my mouth, turn it up at the corners for a sweet smile instead of the gash I…
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One of my all-time favorite movies, Amelie, has a lot going for it…the enchanting Audrey Tatou, dozens of evocative Paris locations—particularly Montmartre—and the iconic Photomaton…a photo booth, the photo booth I borrowed and tweaked for our featured image. As part of the plot line, Amelie (Tatou) pursues an eccentric and mysterious man who collects discarded…
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My mother was our Blue Bird leader. As such, she went out of her way not to show favoritism…so much so that when we put on a little production of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I was cast as one of the rats.
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It’s all over the news. You might even be sick of hearing about it by now. Just one word: Wordle. Well, actually up to six words. Five-letter words. But only one word wins. A different word every day, the same word for everyone. In the world. Free. (For now.) And you can only play once…
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Devoted to You, an Everly Brothers hit in 1958, was covered by the Beach Boys, by Linda Ronstadt, and by James Taylor and Carly Simon. And by me. I sang my vows to Garth on our wedding day. More to the point, I warbled…because I’m no singer. And that was the point. We were both…
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It’s pretty much impossible to pick just one song so I’ve zeroed in on the very first song that moved me: All I Have To Do is Dream by the Everly Brothers. When the song was released in 1958, I was 11 years old. I wouldn’t have the pleasure of my first kiss for another…
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Some things never change. Like many of you, dear readers, I have a hoard of memorabilia. Mine includes early writing and poetry…most of it cringeworthy. That’s why it’s in my shed in a box labeled “TO SHRED OR DESTROY (without reading, please!)” For some reason I couldn’t (can’t!) seem to let it go…maybe I gleaned…
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I have just one resolution this year: REWRITE. Not write, but REWRITE. I’m resolved to hone my memoir to the point where I feel it deserves to be read. In other words, to the point where others may read it and feel better about themselves and/or the world for having read it. (Wow, right?!) To…
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American Laughing Society wants you to take them seriously Lisa Ferguson Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m. Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you. Usually. Still, Earle Turow is wondering about Las Vegans’ sense of humor — mostly, do they even have one? The retired clothing manufacturer will soon find out. He recently moved…
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One balmy night, the full moon high, I walk into town, flip-flops slapping softly, and grab a seat on the patio at the local watering hole, the Tahiti Nui, where sits Shelley, my new drinking buddy. Halfway through our second or maybe third drink, up walks a guy she knows, Mike, who has a cute…
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Going into business is always dicey, you might even say a crap shoot, but I have a habit of it. Back in the early ‘90s, I was also in the habit of playing poker in casinos around the southland. I’d recently come back from a trip to Africa and used some of the photos I’d taken…
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Fleiss. Hmmm. The name might sound vaguely familiar to you…something about a woman…ohhh, right…Heidi Fleiss, the “Hollywood Madam” who, in the 1990s, ran an upscale prostitution ring in L.A. But what does she have to do with our prompt, Family Medicine? Heidi’s father was Paul Fleiss, my daughter, Erin’s, pediatrician. And when Erin grew up…
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I can think of lots of things I should regret…or that you might think I would regret. I married a drug addict, for one. But if not for him, I wouldn’t have the same beloved daughter I have, or the same beloved granddaughters. I do kind of regret that I didn’t demand child support or…
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When I first met him, I was living at the Villa Roma, a sweet little rose-pink courtyard apartment on a tree-lined street. Problem was, there was almost never a place to park. I might sit in front of my apartment for up to an hour waiting for someone to leave, then grab their spot. One…
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I still have a stack of some of the books that sat on my shelf as a child. I just can’t part with them. My very favorite was Heidi by Johanna Spyri. There are a few others I no longer have but still remember vividly…a Hopalong Cassidy book that you read while listening to the…
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Remedy #1 This is what happens now: I’m doing one thing — say, making the bed — and I think of another — say, needing to change the Brita filter — but by the time I’ve finished Thing 1, I’ve forgotten all about Thing 2. Well, I’ve come up with a remedy. As soon as…
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My most memorable date was my first date with Garth (see Found), but my second most memorable date was my very first date ever. It was the first time I was allowed to go out with a boy, in a car, at night. His name was Rusty, and yes, he had red hair. He picked…
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I met my second husband, Ken, in the summer of ’92. Shortly after we met, we went to a wedding where I remember dancing to this song, ubiquitous at the time. As soon as I saw the prompt, I thought of it…it reminds me of him in the very nicest way. There was a full…
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Believe it or not, I have never been to a county fair. So I don’t have a story — I don’t think I even have 100 words — but I just had to post this wonderful image on the heels of Mr. Ed’s recent story on Hobbies, one of his being philately. (As in “Frankly,…
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As a dreamy pre-teen, not exactly a collage artist, I’d pore through McCall’s, Mademoiselle, and Seventeen Magazine cutting and pasting fashionable images of hairstyles and clothing into my scrapbook using scissors and LePage’s glue. Little did I know I was learning skills that would last a lifetime, even morphing into the digital age. Now I…
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May 1st was Garth’s and my 10-year anniversary. It’s a milestone for any couple, but for me, it was extra special. It marked the very first time I’d been with a partner for ten years (and counting). We’ve always gone somewhere special on our anniversary, sometimes overseas, but this year…well, Covid. Instead, we enjoyed a…
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There’s a gun in a case near Garth’s side of the bed. It looks mean. I’m afraid to touch it let alone pick it up. I thought I’d use the excuse of this prompt to face my fear, hold the gun, learn how to load it, even go to a shooting range and learn to…
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I’m not really thirsty til I realize To my surprise and horror That I’ve left the house without My HydroFlask of water Cool clear water (water, water) I try not to panic but I find it hard to swallow Will tomorrow ever come I mean what I am to do without water Cool clear water…
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This time I'll let the clip tell the story...if you're old enough, you'll likely get a kick out of it.
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Cancel culture is the new form of pillorying. But instead of showing up in the town square, we in essence cancel our relationship with the alleged perpetrator — for our purposes here, the artist — ostracizing them as a way of extracting penance. Careers have been ruined by a tell-all documentary, fairly or not…because doesn’t…
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If not for my husband, I wouldn’t watch TV.
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No matter how many times I’ve seen it, if I happen upon it while channel surfing, I get sucked into it again. Tight writing and directing that doesn’t miss a beat, top-notch actors with believable chemistry, an evocative sense of time and place, great cinematography, and unforgettable music…such movies often define an entire genre. For…
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My brother Larry is a real jerk, but he has really good manners. Whenever he spends time at a friend’s house, his friend’s mother calls to tell our mother how polite he is, and she has to announce it to the whole family. Personally, I think he’s just like Eddie Haskell. Last night on Leave…
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I immediately got my hair colored and cut...
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Orders lifted, may still stay home.
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Within six months of their birth, my mom enrolled my brothers, Keith and Kevin, in the Screen Extras Guild, and then, after they had some experience under their tiny belts, the Screen Actors Guild. As babies, they were sometimes hired to play one role because labor laws restricted infants from being on camera for more…
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My husband says this sounds just like me. I can't imagine what he means.
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Lacking a logical sequence Early on I broke In black and white and slow motion. Unaware of the cracks Pieces missing large and small I plowed forward Heedless, fearless, helter-skelter And whenever things went sideways Jumped on the bandwagon Blamed myself Just not good enough. Repeat, repeat Maybe halfway through I stumbled over…
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Of course I also loved the subversive version...
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I loved making Valentine cards then, and I love it even more now.
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As this prompt was actually my husband’s idea, I thought I’d give him credit where credit’s due. He happens to have quite a hat collection himself — at least fifteen (not including caps). The featured photo, taken by him, is one of them. I do love a man in a hat.
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I’ve worn a lot of hats in my life. As an entrepreneur, I’ve been chief cook and bottle washer in probably a dozen small businesses from baking cheesecakes to designing greeting cards to writing books and everything entailed in getting them to market. But real hats? Maybe a handful, if that. I just don’t have…
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I refused to watch the previous inauguration, More accurately called the abomination, But teary-eyed in hopeful celebration, I watched this one with at least half the nation. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for Joe, But if you ask almost anyone, the women stole the show. Not just the performances of Lady Gaga…
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A museumgoer and an artist, I think a lot about the symbiosis between looker and maker.
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If it’s not good for you, use moderation; if it is, run with it.
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*Yes, there's an app for that...although I didn't use it, don't have it, and don't intend to get it.
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It’s about something I see somewhere at least once a day.
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Growing up Thanksgiving meant dinner with two parents five of us kids three grandparents one aunt one uncle one cousin one great uncle one great grandmother laughing loving kissing hugging drinking thanking jabbering gobbling spilling over, no distance between us. Now comes Covid rising with masks and elbow bumps six feet here six feet there sanitizer…
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For some reason I just got it in my head that by sharing my love of language, I might inspire the kids to enjoy it in turn.
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I. As hippies, we repaired our jeans with patches, braid, embroidery floss. A statement: flower power. Decades later came heavy metal, grunge. Tattered and torn, a statement: fuck you. Now, designer distressed, professionally ripped in all the right places, a statement: I’m with it, at any cost. II. Broken, faded, distressed, frayed. I’m not talking…
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Possibly a loner by nature, I never mixed with the neighbors much, just a cool wave and a smile if I spotted one as I backed out the driveway, a word or two when we’d pass while walking our dogs. I’m not the kind to borrow a cup of sugar. Since we began sheltering in…
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It’s one of those (hopefully!) once-in-a-lifetime moments where you remember where you were and what you were doing when something happened.
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Alas, I have no buttons, pins or badges. Well, I do have a David Bowie pin, a couple peace pins, and a Save The Whales pin. But ever since I got flipped off and practically run off the road because of the “Make Love Not War” and assorted bumper stickers along a similar vein on…
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Day before yesterday, legs unsteady, he led Garth on a slow walk, no leash. I wondered what had become of them, walked up to the corner and waited. There they came. Yesterday, he let us know he was ready. Our hands on him while the vet administered the dose, we cried, cried some more as…
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What sounds will the next generation simulate? The silence of eyes staring at screens?
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Slightly offbeat (as in beatnik), evocative of ‘50s cinema — think Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot — they still look great with skirts of just about any length and style, and with shorts, capris, athleisure wear, and boyfriend or skinny jeans.
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Because all appearances to the contrary, I tended to play it safe...
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I have down-to-there hair. It has almost always been shoulder length or longer. Once, as I was getting into my car, a guy driving by leaned out his window and shouted, “Don’t ever cut your hair!” It’s the first thing people notice about me and, if meeting me for the first time, almost always comment on. I…
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The reason brain games are so satisfying is purely scientific: chemicals. We get a DOSE of them when we succeed...
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The minute I saw the prompt, I heard Joni Mitchel singing...
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Two men walk along my street, a red string catches one’s eye. He picks it up, admires what he has found, and lovingly presents it to the other.
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This is a good morning; sometimes we’re both in the single digits.
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Ric was a seasoned picker. He taught me to keep an eye out for those special items that spoke to me.
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“So Mom, guess what happened today?” She’s washing, I’m drying. The house is finally quiet, everyone is settling down, and it’s the first time we’ve been alone together all day. “Oh, Barb, just tell me, I don’t have time to play games.” I know exactly what she’s thinking. This happens every single night. “Remember I…
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I was one of five children growing up. Larry was about four years older than I was, Ricky four years younger, and Keith and Kevin six years younger. So in our family hierarchy, Ricky and I shared billing as middle children.
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There was hand sanitizer at every place setting, the centerpiece was a bowl filled with rubber gloves, and for desert we had our choice of individually wrapped pastries.
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But I don’t want cursive to die. Because from one hand to the next, it’s such a distinctive expression of who each of us is.
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...it's all very rushed and intense and exciting there by the curb, as if each of us is exactly who the other is meant to meet at that moment in time.
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I'll let their stories speak for themselves, and for me.
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The manicure station is close to the door leading to and from the main lobby, and it’s always fun to sit and watch the steady stream of fit figures come and go.
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The crown jewels of his magazine collection are the first eight issues of Verve. He wouldn't let me touch them, but would instead slowly turn the pages for me.
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Because, really, how many middle-aged couples would be willing to take in a small child and turn their comfortable lifestyle on its head with bottles and baby food and diapers and naps.
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It’s almost as if I was prepared for this breathtaking pause.
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I also have a few leftover Valentine's cards. Now that I look at them, they seem a tad racy for a kid to be selling...maybe they somehow got mixed in with the others.
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We often dream of houses, and of stairways…they’re classic symbols. We enter, exit, ascend and descend the various layers of our psychology, psyche, soul.
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Barbi Benton pretty much owned the spelling of her name, and in the 80s, despite the fact that we had the same hairdo, I was dismissive of her anyway, for being in Playboy, and for being Hugh Hefner’s main squeeze.
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We set off en masse to a restaurant nearby called The Carnivore where we have cocktails, then nibble from platters of, so help me, wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, and a few other exotic meats. After dining it’s back to the hotel bar for nightcaps.
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I always had a sense of something missing, of being on the outside of myself.
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Bette Midler loaned one of her legendary mermaid outfits to Susan for the festival parade.
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. . . it even had a breathtaking westerly view of the city promising fiery sunsets. That was all the drama I wanted.
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(Sung to the tune of “I Won’t Grow Up” from Peter Pan) I won’t grow up, I don’t want to stay home. And just do whatever I want Like sleep or write a poem. I won’t grow up, I don’t want to stop working And just do whatever I choose Like Facebook lurking Not…
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To me, football looks like huge men pretending to play tag but actually trying to kill each other. Okay, so I’m not exactly a sports fan. When I dated, I’d get that out of the way early on to avoid disappointment down the line. My husband, Garth, does follow sports, but he’s not a true…
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Or maybe that’s part of why I eventually “ghosted” him. I didn’t yet have the maturity, the empathy, the compassion that being involved with someone like him would have required in the long term.
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Someone else will just have to do my dirty work, someone without a sense of attachment, someone who won’t feel like they’re severing a lifeline to a lifetime.
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I knew what they were doing, they were helping me out, but they were doing it in a way that allowed me to feel as if I were also helping them out.
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Once an art teacher had given our class a homework assignment to collect photos for a collage, including a baby picture. When I’d asked my mom for one, she’d told me my baby pictures had been lost in a flood; yet, here they are.
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As we’d let our fingers do the walking earlier in the day, Garth holds up his iPhone to show him the item we're looking for. There it is, supposedly in stock, in this store.
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A cootie is a body louse, but it’s also a children’s term for an imaginary germ or repellent quality transmitted by another child who is perceived as different.
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We pair up with strangers, hold hands and look into each other’s eyes for an extended period of time; we change partners and smile goofily at one another for another extended period of time; we fall backwards into yet another stranger’s arms and trust that we’ll be caught.
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A man would be waiting for us—not always the same man—then off they would go and I would sit with her infant daughter, already fast asleep in her crib.
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This time I was prepared. I knew what they wanted: not only smarts, but big energy, personality plus.
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But road rage has a way of sneaking up on you, and you’re embroiled in it before you have time to actually think.
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Retro Reverie
Prompted By Retrospect Retrospective
/ Stories
It’s a daunting task to put my experience with Retrospect into perspective. To say it’s been meaningful is a huge understatement. A little background, already familiar to some of you, to others not. Although I never considered myself a writer, some time in 2016 I got it in my head to write a memoir about…
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The Magic of Digital Imaging
Prompted By Do You Believe in Magic?
/ Stories
I’ll never have plastic surgery. I always say it’s because I’m determined to age gracefully, naturally, but mostly it’s because I can’t afford it, and I’m afraid of pain and/or a bad result. But each morning I Photoshop my mouth, turn it up at the corners for a sweet smile instead of the gash I…
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Photomaton
Prompted By Photo Booths
/ Stories
One of my all-time favorite movies, Amelie, has a lot going for it…the enchanting Audrey Tatou, dozens of evocative Paris locations—particularly Montmartre—and the iconic Photomaton…a photo booth, the photo booth I borrowed and tweaked for our featured image. As part of the plot line, Amelie (Tatou) pursues an eccentric and mysterious man who collects discarded…
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WO-HE-LO*
Prompted By Scouting
/ Stories
My mother was our Blue Bird leader. As such, she went out of her way not to show favoritism…so much so that when we put on a little production of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I was cast as one of the rats.
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You’ve Probably Heard of It By Now
Prompted By Guilty Pleasures
/ Stories
It’s all over the news. You might even be sick of hearing about it by now. Just one word: Wordle. Well, actually up to six words. Five-letter words. But only one word wins. A different word every day, the same word for everyone. In the world. Free. (For now.) And you can only play once…
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Devoted to You
Prompted By One Song That Moves Me
/ Stories
Devoted to You, an Everly Brothers hit in 1958, was covered by the Beach Boys, by Linda Ronstadt, and by James Taylor and Carly Simon. And by me. I sang my vows to Garth on our wedding day. More to the point, I warbled…because I’m no singer. And that was the point. We were both…
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Gee Whiz
Prompted By One Song That Moves Me
/ Stories
It’s pretty much impossible to pick just one song so I’ve zeroed in on the very first song that moved me: All I Have To Do is Dream by the Everly Brothers. When the song was released in 1958, I was 11 years old. I wouldn’t have the pleasure of my first kiss for another…
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Chocolate Pudding (& Other Delights)
Prompted By Comfort Food
/ Stories
Some things never change. Like many of you, dear readers, I have a hoard of memorabilia. Mine includes early writing and poetry…most of it cringeworthy. That’s why it’s in my shed in a box labeled “TO SHRED OR DESTROY (without reading, please!)” For some reason I couldn’t (can’t!) seem to let it go…maybe I gleaned…
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Just One
Prompted By Resolutions
/ Stories
I have just one resolution this year: REWRITE. Not write, but REWRITE. I’m resolved to hone my memoir to the point where I feel it deserves to be read. In other words, to the point where others may read it and feel better about themselves and/or the world for having read it. (Wow, right?!) To…
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The Best Medicine
Prompted By Comic Relief
/ Stories
American Laughing Society wants you to take them seriously Lisa Ferguson Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m. Laugh, and the whole world laughs with you. Usually. Still, Earle Turow is wondering about Las Vegans’ sense of humor — mostly, do they even have one? The retired clothing manufacturer will soon find out. He recently moved…
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Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
Prompted By Gossip
/ Stories
One balmy night, the full moon high, I walk into town, flip-flops slapping softly, and grab a seat on the patio at the local watering hole, the Tahiti Nui, where sits Shelley, my new drinking buddy. Halfway through our second or maybe third drink, up walks a guy she knows, Mike, who has a cute…
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Lucky Lady
Prompted By Dice
/ Stories
Going into business is always dicey, you might even say a crap shoot, but I have a habit of it. Back in the early ‘90s, I was also in the habit of playing poker in casinos around the southland. I’d recently come back from a trip to Africa and used some of the photos I’d taken…
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Fleiss
Prompted By Family Medicine
/ Stories
Fleiss. Hmmm. The name might sound vaguely familiar to you…something about a woman…ohhh, right…Heidi Fleiss, the “Hollywood Madam” who, in the 1990s, ran an upscale prostitution ring in L.A. But what does she have to do with our prompt, Family Medicine? Heidi’s father was Paul Fleiss, my daughter, Erin’s, pediatrician. And when Erin grew up…
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Since You Asked
Prompted By Regrets
/ Stories
I can think of lots of things I should regret…or that you might think I would regret. I married a drug addict, for one. But if not for him, I wouldn’t have the same beloved daughter I have, or the same beloved granddaughters. I do kind of regret that I didn’t demand child support or…
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L.A. Story
Prompted By Parking
/ Stories
When I first met him, I was living at the Villa Roma, a sweet little rose-pink courtyard apartment on a tree-lined street. Problem was, there was almost never a place to park. I might sit in front of my apartment for up to an hour waiting for someone to leave, then grab their spot. One…
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Alps and Arcs
Prompted By Children's Books
/ Stories
I still have a stack of some of the books that sat on my shelf as a child. I just can’t part with them. My very favorite was Heidi by Johanna Spyri. There are a few others I no longer have but still remember vividly…a Hopalong Cassidy book that you read while listening to the…
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Two Simple Remedies
Prompted By Senior Moments
/ Stories
Remedy #1 This is what happens now: I’m doing one thing — say, making the bed — and I think of another — say, needing to change the Brita filter — but by the time I’ve finished Thing 1, I’ve forgotten all about Thing 2. Well, I’ve come up with a remedy. As soon as…
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Riptide
Prompted By Dating
/ Stories
My most memorable date was my first date with Garth (see Found), but my second most memorable date was my very first date ever. It was the first time I was allowed to go out with a boy, in a car, at night. His name was Rusty, and yes, he had red hair. He picked…
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That Sunday That Summer
Prompted By That Summer
/ Stories
I met my second husband, Ken, in the summer of ’92. Shortly after we met, we went to a wedding where I remember dancing to this song, ubiquitous at the time. As soon as I saw the prompt, I thought of it…it reminds me of him in the very nicest way. There was a full…
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Forever Fair
Prompted By State or County Fair
/ Stories
Believe it or not, I have never been to a county fair. So I don’t have a story — I don’t think I even have 100 words — but I just had to post this wonderful image on the heels of Mr. Ed’s recent story on Hobbies, one of his being philately. (As in “Frankly,…
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Everyone’s Gone to the Movies*
Prompted By Hobbies
/ Stories
As a dreamy pre-teen, not exactly a collage artist, I’d pore through McCall’s, Mademoiselle, and Seventeen Magazine cutting and pasting fashionable images of hairstyles and clothing into my scrapbook using scissors and LePage’s glue. Little did I know I was learning skills that would last a lifetime, even morphing into the digital age. Now I…
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Saving the Best for Last
Prompted By Anniversaries
/ Stories
May 1st was Garth’s and my 10-year anniversary. It’s a milestone for any couple, but for me, it was extra special. It marked the very first time I’d been with a partner for ten years (and counting). We’ve always gone somewhere special on our anniversary, sometimes overseas, but this year…well, Covid. Instead, we enjoyed a…
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Catch-22
Prompted By Guns Then and Now
/ Stories
There’s a gun in a case near Garth’s side of the bed. It looks mean. I’m afraid to touch it let alone pick it up. I thought I’d use the excuse of this prompt to face my fear, hold the gun, learn how to load it, even go to a shooting range and learn to…
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Cool Water
Prompted By Can't Leave Home Without It
/ Stories
I’m not really thirsty til I realize To my surprise and horror That I’ve left the house without My HydroFlask of water Cool clear water (water, water) I try not to panic but I find it hard to swallow Will tomorrow ever come I mean what I am to do without water Cool clear water…
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I’ve Got A Secret
Prompted By Quiz and Game Shows
/ Stories
This time I'll let the clip tell the story...if you're old enough, you'll likely get a kick out of it.
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Cancelled!
Prompted By Separating the Art from the Artist
/ Stories
Cancel culture is the new form of pillorying. But instead of showing up in the town square, we in essence cancel our relationship with the alleged perpetrator — for our purposes here, the artist — ostracizing them as a way of extracting penance. Careers have been ruined by a tell-all documentary, fairly or not…because doesn’t…
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I Haven’t the Remotest Idea
Prompted By Technology Tribulations
/ Stories
If not for my husband, I wouldn’t watch TV.
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Couldn’t Choose One
Prompted By Rewatchable Movies
/ Stories
No matter how many times I’ve seen it, if I happen upon it while channel surfing, I get sucked into it again. Tight writing and directing that doesn’t miss a beat, top-notch actors with believable chemistry, an evocative sense of time and place, great cinematography, and unforgettable music…such movies often define an entire genre. For…
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Dear Diary
Prompted By Manners
/ Stories
My brother Larry is a real jerk, but he has really good manners. Whenever he spends time at a friend’s house, his friend’s mother calls to tell our mother how polite he is, and she has to announce it to the whole family. Personally, I think he’s just like Eddie Haskell. Last night on Leave…
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The Haircut That Ended It All
Prompted By Haircuts
/ Stories
I immediately got my hair colored and cut...
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Six Words
Prompted By One Year of the Pandemic
/ Stories
Orders lifted, may still stay home.
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This Just In!
Prompted By Advertising Jingles and Slogans
/ Stories
Within six months of their birth, my mom enrolled my brothers, Keith and Kevin, in the Screen Extras Guild, and then, after they had some experience under their tiny belts, the Screen Actors Guild. As babies, they were sometimes hired to play one role because labor laws restricted infants from being on camera for more…
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The Meaning of Life
Prompted By Pet Peeves
/ Stories
My husband says this sounds just like me. I can't imagine what he means.
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Disconnected
Prompted By Reconnecting
/ Stories
Lacking a logical sequence Early on I broke In black and white and slow motion. Unaware of the cracks Pieces missing large and small I plowed forward Heedless, fearless, helter-skelter And whenever things went sideways Jumped on the bandwagon Blamed myself Just not good enough. Repeat, repeat Maybe halfway through I stumbled over…
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I Loved Bosco
Prompted By Advertising Jingles and Slogans
/ Stories
Of course I also loved the subversive version...
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I HeART You
Prompted By Valentine's Day
/ Stories
I loved making Valentine cards then, and I love it even more now.
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Hat’s Off to Garth!
Prompted By Hats
/ Stories
As this prompt was actually my husband’s idea, I thought I’d give him credit where credit’s due. He happens to have quite a hat collection himself — at least fifteen (not including caps). The featured photo, taken by him, is one of them. I do love a man in a hat.
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The Woman in the Hat
Prompted By Hats
/ Stories
I’ve worn a lot of hats in my life. As an entrepreneur, I’ve been chief cook and bottle washer in probably a dozen small businesses from baking cheesecakes to designing greeting cards to writing books and everything entailed in getting them to market. But real hats? Maybe a handful, if that. I just don’t have…
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I’m Not A Poet and Don’t I Know It
Prompted By Inaugurations
/ Stories
I refused to watch the previous inauguration, More accurately called the abomination, But teary-eyed in hopeful celebration, I watched this one with at least half the nation. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for Joe, But if you ask almost anyone, the women stole the show. Not just the performances of Lady Gaga…
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Artist’s Statement
Prompted By Art and Art Museums
/ Stories
A museumgoer and an artist, I think a lot about the symbiosis between looker and maker.
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A Wise Woman Once Said…
Prompted By Letter to My Younger Self
/ Stories
If it’s not good for you, use moderation; if it is, run with it.
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100 words/RetroFlash
My Binge List*
Prompted By What Are You Bingeing?
/ Stories
*Yes, there's an app for that...although I didn't use it, don't have it, and don't intend to get it.
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100 words - RetroFlash
Bless Its Pointed Little Head
Prompted By Spelling
/ Stories
It’s about something I see somewhere at least once a day.
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Color Me Sad
Prompted By Pandemic Holidays
/ Stories
Growing up Thanksgiving meant dinner with two parents five of us kids three grandparents one aunt one uncle one cousin one great uncle one great grandmother laughing loving kissing hugging drinking thanking jabbering gobbling spilling over, no distance between us. Now comes Covid rising with masks and elbow bumps six feet here six feet there sanitizer…
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Figuratively Speaking
Prompted By Volunteering
/ Stories
For some reason I just got it in my head that by sharing my love of language, I might inspire the kids to enjoy it in turn.
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Torn Jeans
Prompted By Fads and Trends
/ Stories
I. As hippies, we repaired our jeans with patches, braid, embroidery floss. A statement: flower power. Decades later came heavy metal, grunge. Tattered and torn, a statement: fuck you. Now, designer distressed, professionally ripped in all the right places, a statement: I’m with it, at any cost. II. Broken, faded, distressed, frayed. I’m not talking…
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Knock Knock
Prompted By Random Acts of Kindness
/ Stories
Possibly a loner by nature, I never mixed with the neighbors much, just a cool wave and a smile if I spotted one as I backed out the driveway, a word or two when we’d pass while walking our dogs. I’m not the kind to borrow a cup of sugar. Since we began sheltering in…
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Which Haunt?
Prompted By Ghosts of Elections Past
/ Stories
It’s one of those (hopefully!) once-in-a-lifetime moments where you remember where you were and what you were doing when something happened.
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Badges? I ain’t got no stinkin’ badges.*
Prompted By Buttons, Pins, and Badges
/ Stories
Alas, I have no buttons, pins or badges. Well, I do have a David Bowie pin, a couple peace pins, and a Save The Whales pin. But ever since I got flipped off and practically run off the road because of the “Make Love Not War” and assorted bumper stickers along a similar vein on…
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Charlie
Prompted By Pets
/ Stories
Day before yesterday, legs unsteady, he led Garth on a slow walk, no leash. I wondered what had become of them, walked up to the corner and waited. There they came. Yesterday, he let us know he was ready. Our hands on him while the vet administered the dose, we cried, cried some more as…
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The Sounds of Silence – RetroFlash
Prompted By Life Before Computers
/ Stories
What sounds will the next generation simulate? The silence of eyes staring at screens?
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The Look
Prompted By Shoes
/ Stories
Slightly offbeat (as in beatnik), evocative of ‘50s cinema — think Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot — they still look great with skirts of just about any length and style, and with shorts, capris, athleisure wear, and boyfriend or skinny jeans.
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Tattoo Me
Prompted By Rites of Passage
/ Stories
Because all appearances to the contrary, I tended to play it safe...
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Vanity Insanity
Prompted By Hair
/ Stories
I have down-to-there hair. It has almost always been shoulder length or longer. Once, as I was getting into my car, a guy driving by leaned out his window and shouted, “Don’t ever cut your hair!” It’s the first thing people notice about me and, if meeting me for the first time, almost always comment on. I…
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My Daily D.O.S.E.
Prompted By Brain Games
/ Stories
The reason brain games are so satisfying is purely scientific: chemicals. We get a DOSE of them when we succeed...
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Back to the Garden
Prompted By The Garden
/ Stories
The minute I saw the prompt, I heard Joni Mitchel singing...
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Found
Prompted By Lost and Found
/ Stories
Two men walk along my street, a red string catches one’s eye. He picks it up, admires what he has found, and lovingly presents it to the other.
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Instant Gratification
Prompted By Fame
/ Stories
This is a good morning; sometimes we’re both in the single digits.
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It’s About Time
Prompted By Yard Sales
/ Stories
Ric was a seasoned picker. He taught me to keep an eye out for those special items that spoke to me.
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The Watchers
Prompted By I Swore I'd Never
/ Stories
“So Mom, guess what happened today?” She’s washing, I’m drying. The house is finally quiet, everyone is settling down, and it’s the first time we’ve been alone together all day. “Oh, Barb, just tell me, I don’t have time to play games.” I know exactly what she’s thinking. This happens every single night. “Remember I…
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Pecking Order
Prompted By Birth Order
/ Stories
I was one of five children growing up. Larry was about four years older than I was, Ricky four years younger, and Keith and Kevin six years younger. So in our family hierarchy, Ricky and I shared billing as middle children.
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I Need A Hug!
Prompted By Pandemic Summer
/ Stories
There was hand sanitizer at every place setting, the centerpiece was a bowl filled with rubber gloves, and for desert we had our choice of individually wrapped pastries.
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Longhand
Prompted By Cursive — Curse or Blessing?
/ Stories
But I don’t want cursive to die. Because from one hand to the next, it’s such a distinctive expression of who each of us is.
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The Auratone & The Odyssey
Prompted By Chance Encounters
/ Stories
...it's all very rushed and intense and exciting there by the curb, as if each of us is exactly who the other is meant to meet at that moment in time.
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I Protest!
Prompted By Protests
/ Stories
I'll let their stories speak for themselves, and for me.
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Yep, This Happened
Prompted By Embarrassment
/ Stories
The manicure station is close to the door leading to and from the main lobby, and it’s always fun to sit and watch the steady stream of fit figures come and go.
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Verve
Prompted By Magazines
/ Stories
The crown jewels of his magazine collection are the first eight issues of Verve. He wouldn't let me touch them, but would instead slowly turn the pages for me.
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More About Aunt Blanche and Uncle Ernie
Prompted By Aunts & Uncles
/ Stories
Because, really, how many middle-aged couples would be willing to take in a small child and turn their comfortable lifestyle on its head with bottles and baby food and diapers and naps.
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panacea for the quiet
Prompted By Pandemic - Pandemonium or Panacea?
/ Stories
It’s almost as if I was prepared for this breathtaking pause.
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Extra Money
Prompted By Door-to-Door Sales
/ Stories
I also have a few leftover Valentine's cards. Now that I look at them, they seem a tad racy for a kid to be selling...maybe they somehow got mixed in with the others.
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Dream House
Prompted By Dreams
/ Stories
We often dream of houses, and of stairways…they’re classic symbols. We enter, exit, ascend and descend the various layers of our psychology, psyche, soul.
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My Name is Barbara…
Prompted By Nicknames
/ Stories
Barbi Benton pretty much owned the spelling of her name, and in the 80s, despite the fact that we had the same hairdo, I was dismissive of her anyway, for being in Playboy, and for being Hugh Hefner’s main squeeze.
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We Are The World
Prompted By Vacation or Staycation from Hell
/ Stories
We set off en masse to a restaurant nearby called The Carnivore where we have cocktails, then nibble from platters of, so help me, wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, and a few other exotic meats. After dining it’s back to the hotel bar for nightcaps.
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Outsider No More
Prompted By Finding Your Tribe
/ Stories
I always had a sense of something missing, of being on the outside of myself.
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To My Leapling, My Leapie, My Leaper
Prompted By Leap Day
/ Stories
Bette Midler loaned one of her legendary mermaid outfits to Susan for the festival parade.
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Can You Tell Me How To Get to Sesame Street?
Prompted By Children's TV Shows
/ Stories
. . . it even had a breathtaking westerly view of the city promising fiery sunsets. That was all the drama I wanted.
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Retirement? Who, Me?
Prompted By Retirement
/ Stories
(Sung to the tune of “I Won’t Grow Up” from Peter Pan) I won’t grow up, I don’t want to stay home. And just do whatever I want Like sleep or write a poem. I won’t grow up, I don’t want to stop working And just do whatever I choose Like Facebook lurking Not…
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Stupor Bowl
Prompted By Super Bowl
/ Stories
To me, football looks like huge men pretending to play tag but actually trying to kill each other. Okay, so I’m not exactly a sports fan. When I dated, I’d get that out of the way early on to avoid disappointment down the line. My husband, Garth, does follow sports, but he’s not a true…
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Ghosts
Prompted By Snail Mail
/ Stories
Or maybe that’s part of why I eventually “ghosted” him. I didn’t yet have the maturity, the empathy, the compassion that being involved with someone like him would have required in the long term.
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To Be or Not To Be
Prompted By Get Organized
/ Stories
Someone else will just have to do my dirty work, someone without a sense of attachment, someone who won’t feel like they’re severing a lifeline to a lifetime.
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Chafing at “Charity”
Prompted By Charity
/ Stories
I knew what they were doing, they were helping me out, but they were doing it in a way that allowed me to feel as if I were also helping them out.
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Blue on Blue
Prompted By Baby Books
/ Stories
Once an art teacher had given our class a homework assignment to collect photos for a collage, including a baby picture. When I’d asked my mom for one, she’d told me my baby pictures had been lost in a flood; yet, here they are.
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Get Over It
Prompted By Ageism
/ Stories
As we’d let our fingers do the walking earlier in the day, Garth holds up his iPhone to show him the item we're looking for. There it is, supposedly in stock, in this store.
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“Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah” (Bully Anthem)
Prompted By Bullying
/ Stories
A cootie is a body louse, but it’s also a children’s term for an imaginary germ or repellent quality transmitted by another child who is perceived as different.
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Scams and Shams
Prompted By Hacks and Scams
/ Stories
We pair up with strangers, hold hands and look into each other’s eyes for an extended period of time; we change partners and smile goofily at one another for another extended period of time; we fall backwards into yet another stranger’s arms and trust that we’ll be caught.
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Janet
Prompted By Nannies and Babysitters
/ Stories
A man would be waiting for us—not always the same man—then off they would go and I would sit with her infant daughter, already fast asleep in her crib.
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Word Games
Prompted By Games People Play
/ Stories
This time I was prepared. I knew what they wanted: not only smarts, but big energy, personality plus.
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Road Rage At Any Age
Prompted By Road Rage
/ Stories
But road rage has a way of sneaking up on you, and you’re embroiled in it before you have time to actually think.
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