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Mar 23 2024

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The First Goodbye: Remembering Uncle Willy

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ― Shannon Alder

“Some people, sweet and attractive, and strong and healthy, happen to die young. They are masters in disguise teaching us about impermanence. ― Dalai Lama

Today is St. Patrick’s Day as I begin drafting this reminiscence and tribute to my Uncle Willy. He was born William Roger Mason ― my mother’s favorite ―and beloved ― younger brother. Since I was child when I knew him, he will forever be remembered by his endearment, Uncle Willy. Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Death, Family, Family Heritage, Family History, Family Stories, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Gun Violence, Home, Loss, Memoir, Mother, Oral History, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Sisters, Suicide

Feb 05 2023

Posts

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

“Sometimes we become what we do. I became a writer by writing.”— Linda Lenzke, Blogger & More

“I write to discover what I know.” — Flannery O’Connor

Ten years ago in January, I took a WordPress class at Madison College. I decided that I wanted to take the next step as a writer: design, create, and launch a blog. I had been taking a series of reminiscence writing classes from a mentor and writing coach who would later become a friend and writing partner, Sarah White of First Person Productions. Prior to the classes, I had been writing for decades, poetry, spoken word monologues, stand-up comedy, and journaling for over 30 years. The reminiscence classes were a launchpad for my memoir, Perfectly Flawed, which I’m still writing, editing, and adding content as I live and write. Continue reading →

Tagged Blog, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, LGBTQ, Love, Memoir, Memories, Mixed Metaphors Oh My!, Personal Narratives, Recovery, Relationships, Seasons, Stories, Writing

Sep 11 2022

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Posts

Childhood Comfort Food: Served with Memories

“Food is a lot of people’s therapy — when we say comfort food, we really mean that. It’s releasing dopamine and serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good.” — Brett Hoebel

Definition: “Food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically any with a high sugar or other carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.”

Note: This reminiscence was originally written as a response to the prompt, ‘childhood comfort food’ for my Door County Write On LGBTQ+ Writers Group.

September in the Midwest is my favorite time of year. It marks the changing of the seasons, the end of summer and the beginning of fall; warm days and cool nights when one grabs their favorite sweatshirt or sweater while still wearing shorts — comfort and comfort food season. Continue reading →

Tagged Changing of the Seasons, Childhood, Comfort Foods, Family, Friends, Holidays, Home, Home cooking, Kringle, Memories, Mom's Cooking, Mother, Racine, Recipes

Dec 26 2021

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Omicron Edition

“The year 2021 has been like a roller coaster. It was supposed to be the year the pandemic fizzled out. Instead, it was a year of intense whiplash.” — Julie Ries

“It’s not over, till it’s over!” — Yogi Bera

This dispatch is part holiday season review, 2021 year-end wrap up, plus a look ahead, and once again, an acceptance of opposing conditions, that things both change and remain the same. It has been a year characterized by both hope and despair, gratitude and grief, and resistance and surrender.

The past year — or 22 months — depending on how you want to count — we’ve been riding the coronacoaster of the COVID pandemic. There have been highs and lows on this ride, whiplash, and screams. We want to get off this ride, yet we can’t until it’s over. Continue reading →

Tagged 2021 Year-in-Review, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Father, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holiday Season, Holidays, Home, Look Ahead, Loss, Omicron, Pandemic

Nov 21 2021

Posts

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again, Again!)

“The only constant is change.” — Heraclitus

“Things do not change; we change.” — Henry David Thoreau

From November 25, 2020…

As I write, it’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I’ve been rereading Thanksgiving Holiday journal entries from the past 12 years, plus my Thanksgiving blog reminiscences. A theme emerged which I’ve addressed before, yet continues to weave through my life — and the lives of loved ones — things change.

I begin this reminiscence and musing about the Thanksgiving holiday with the same quotes and sentiment from a year ago when COVID-19 was surging and many families and friends had to make the difficult decision of whether or not they would celebrate in-person, and how it might be different from the traditional holidays from the past. The only change in this introduction is I’ve been rereading 13 years of journal entries, and two years of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! Thanksgiving: Things Change essays. Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Holidays, Home, Loss, Love, Memoir, Mother, Movies, Racine, Relationships, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner, Things Change, Traditions

Oct 03 2021

Posts

Scenes from a Marriage: Keys to My Life

“Do you think people who live together can ever be completely honest?” — from Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage

Sometimes a series of events coalesce randomly, serendipitously. Such is the case this past month when I began watching the HBO remake of the groundbreaking relationship drama, Ingmar Bergman’s 1973 Swedish TV mini-series, Scenes from a Marriage. When it was originally released in 1973, I had been married for a couple of years to my husband, Frank. We watched the theatrical version released in theaters in the U.S. We were foreign and avant-garde film buffs. Our friend Hal, a French professor at UW – Parkside, curated the campus film society. We attended lots of films together and I learned about the art of filmmaking from Hal and I quickly became a cinephile. Continue reading →

Tagged Break-Ups, Chosen Family, Cinephile, Ex-Girlfriends, Ex-Husband, Ex-Partners, Feminism, Films, Friends, Home, Keys to My Life, Love, Masters of None: Moments in Love, Moving Stories, Random Topics, Relationships, Scenes from a Marriage

Jul 31 2021

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Two Steps Back

“It is necessary sometimes to take one step backward to take two steps forward.” — Vladimir Lenin

“Captain, May I take two steps forward?” — Childhood backyard game

Yesterday, I traveled to Racine, Wisconsin to visit my 91-year-old father who gratefully remains independent, vaccinated, and healthy as he continues to live alone. Since I live 100 miles away, I can’t just drop-in for a quick visit and check-in on him. Prior to the pandemic, we scheduled a weekly phone date every Sunday, and I’d visit him in-person at least once a month The COVID-19 pandemic changed all that. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, COVID-19 Journal Project, Death, Delta Variant, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Father, Friends, Home, Masks, Pandemic, The Loud Family, The New Normal, Two Steps Back, Vaccination

Jul 11 2021

Posts

Safety/Danger

“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” ― Jane Addams

Today’s essay takes a look at safety/danger as gun violence, mass shootings, hate crimes, and domestic terrorism are on the rise. Add climate change, infrastructure neglect, ransomware cyber attacks, and the continued spread of new COVID-19 variants and our safety and security are threatened. Safety and security are two of our most basic human needs, part of the foundation of the physiological requirements as described by Herbert Maslow in his paper in 1943, A Theory of Human Motivation and illustrated in his Hierarchy of Needs. Continue reading →

Tagged Big Lie, Climate Change, COVID-19, Cyberattacks, Danger, Equality, Gun Violence, Home, Homelessness, Infrastructure, Insurrection, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Oppression, Record-Breaking Temps, Safety, Surfside Condos Collapse

May 31 2021

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: My Post-Pandemic Life

“As a writer, I like words, their origin and meanings. Memory: Something remembered from the past; a recollection. Memorial: Something designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, as a monument or a holiday.” — from Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! With a Little Help from My Friends

First, the Memorial Day Holiday is a time to acknowledge and honor the men and women who have served our country in war and peace, and more importantly to work for peace in the world. It’s also a time I remember loved ones, friends, and colleagues who have died.

This year it’s also a return to some version of our pre-pandemic lives — a new normal — a post- pandemic life for those of us who’ve been fully vaccinated. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, COVID-19 Journal, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Fathers, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Home, Loss, Love, Memorial Day, Memories, Mother, My Pandemic Year, My Post-Pandemic Life, Pod Squad, Post-Pandemic, Pre-Pandemic, Racine, Vaccination

May 02 2021

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Exit Strategy

“In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.” — Dave Hollis

As I write, it’s the day after May Day, this year the first Saturday in May, the traditional running of The Kentucky Derby. Attendance was, according to the Courier-Journal, “51,838 — a far cry from the usual 150,000-plus fans the race draws in a normal year, but one of the largest crowds at any event since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.” Many people who attended did not wear their required face masks, except around their neck, though they dressed up for the occasion donning their derby hats and costumes while sipping mint juleps and placing their bets. Continue reading →

Tagged 2021 Kentucky Derby, 2021 Wisconsin Film Festival, Back to Life, COVID-19, COVID-19 Journal Project, Dispatch from the Hideout, Exit Strategy, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Home, Madison, Next Steps, Pod Squad, Post-Pandemic, Racine, Relationships, The New Normal, The Road Forward

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Home

The First Goodbye: Remembering Uncle Willy

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

Childhood Comfort Food: Served with Memories

Dispatch from the Hideout: Omicron Edition

Thanksgiving: Things Change (Again, Again!)

Scenes from a Marriage: Keys to My Life

Dispatch from the Hideout: Two Steps Back

Safety/Danger

Dispatch from the Hideout: My Post-Pandemic Life

Dispatch from the Hideout: Exit Strategy