Suprise Me

My name is Risa. That’s R-I-S-A. When I was growing up, I was the only Risa I had ever heard of. Surrounded by a gaggle of girls named Karen, Kathy, Linda, Carol, Nancy, and Diane, I was one of a kind. I got used to fielding the comments and questions: No, it’s not short for… Read More

“Excuse me… there seems to be a mistake on my paycheck. A big mistake.” Read More

When my first husband and I separated, I took my nine month old daughter and moved back to Houston.  At the time I still loved him deeply.  We were on cordial terms although we knew we were not going to be together again.  We were trying to work out, child support, who would raise the… Read More

"If I left her, if I followed my dark muse into the deep sea, there was a good chance that, one way or the other, Holly would die." Read More

Macy’s Parkchester,   circa 1960 Selling Pop-Its at Macys Like any red-blooded American girl when I was young I did my share of shopping.   Of course it was a simpler and more personal affair then –  no Amazon Prime or online shopping.  Instead we went shopping with our mothers or our girl friends who… 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

Planes, Trains and Automobiles was the first big-budget movie I ever did. Read More

Joe's hat sported not only a Nixon-Agnew campaign button but, beside it, a Goldwater button from four years earlier. Read More

On the weekends, at a dance, away from school, --in the real world, we would pull that length of hair out from behind and drape it over our ears. Wild! Read More

We'd not gotten halfway when the motor started to choke and sputter. A few minutes after that, the storm was upon us. Read More