Suprise Me

Inaugural Poets “Tyrants fear the poet.”   Amanda Gorman JOHN KENNEDY and ROBERT FROST Inauguration Day 1961,  the handsome young president and the weathered New England poet,   both hatless in the DC January chill. “The land was ours,  before we were the land’s … ”   BILL CLINTON and MAYA ANGELOU Inauguration Day 1993,… Read More

Giving the graduates a mix tape of advice Read More

Valentine's Day, 2002: The date that Dick and I decided we were "serious." Read More

My mother volunteered, or was more likely pressured, into becoming the assistant den mother--a less likely role for her I can't imagine. Read More

I have a very bad habit of singing old commercial jingles over and over again. Especially when I’m using some similar product. Or just walking down the street. Sometimes when I brush my teeth I’ll hum, “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.” Even though I’m using Crest. Afterwards,… Read More

Eager to join the ranks of the outre, we wore maxis to elementary school. Read More

Spinning for Hanukkah Gelt You probably don’t have to be Jewish to know about the Hanukkah game called Dreidel. It’s a betting game where each player antes up and then, depending on the spin of the dreidel  –  the four-sided spinning top that serves as the dice –  he either takes nothing from the pot… Read More

General Store Sears and Roebuck The original Amazon The circles of  time-periscoping Evolution Of the landmarks of our Consumerist commitment— Beacons that guided Our travels Before GPS   White Front  To Gemco To Target   Rexall To Longs To CVS To Cannabis dispensary   Mr. Jordan’s corner tobacco/liquor  To 7-11 To million dollar condos  … Read More

Charlevoix. For five glorious summers my family stayed at the Scutt Guest House in the resort town on Lake Michigan for a few weeks in August, beginning in 1959. I believe it became quite a well-heeled resort, but at the time it felt cozy and lots of our friends and family from Detroit also made… Read More

My father had a challenging childhood, the youngest of eight children. His mother was bipolar, long before there was effective treatment. She had her last two children to “cure” her because she seemed better when pregnant (something about the hormones that was not understood). She was in and out of mental institutions by the time… Read More