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Nov 21 2021

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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

Apr 25 2021

Posts

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Stories of Home

For my blog, Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! I’ve written numerous reminiscences and essays — over a dozen — about moving and home, and sadly, homelessness too. I probably have a book, or at least a collection of stories.

This fall during the pandemic, I wrote and submitted two stories in response to the theme, Within these Walls: Stories of Home for Forward Theater Co.’s (FTC) sixth Monologue Festival. I’ve submitted to five of the six monologue festivals, links to the monologues at the end of this story. For one of my submissions, I received my favorite rejection letter as a writer for the Someone’s Gotta Do It! Monologue Festival, for my submission Maria from the Sewing Room (and Gloria from the Lay-Up Department), which wasn’t selected, but made the semifinals out of 300 submissions. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Forward Theater Co, Friends, Holding On, Home, Homelessness, Letting Go, Madison, Material Life, Memoir, Memories, Moving, Moving Stories, Personal Narratives, Racine, Reminiscences, Spoken Word Monologues, Wisconsin

Apr 25 2021

Posts

Within these Walls: Oral History

Stories of Home

As a writer, I write for different reasons. I journal to maintain a record of my life, to examine my life, reflect on the past, and look ahead to the future. As a reminiscence writer, I capture the stories of my lived experience and those of my family, friends, and loved ones. As an activist-essayist, I comment on the culture and politics of current events in hopes of galvanizing change.

I sometimes submit my work for consideration for the stage, screen, or publication. For me, those are the most challenging experiences as a writer. In addition to telling a story, I let go of control of whether it’s performed, viewed, or read by the target audience. I make myself vulnerable to the readers, producers, publishers and selection committees. My ego is in play. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Fathers, Forward Theater Co, Home, Memoir, Mother, Oral History, Personal Narratives, Racine, Spoken Word Monologues, Stories, Wisconsin

Mar 26 2021

Posts

Travel Musings

“You don’t have to go far to travel.” — Me

“If you lived here, you’d be home by now!” — Firesign Theater

I often introduce reminiscences and musings with a quote or two. The same is true today as I muse about travel, or the lack of it. The first quote, I attribute to myself, “You don’t have to go far to travel.” The second to a favorite radio and improv comedy troupe from my hippie days, Firesign Theater, when we traveled in our own imaginations with help from mind-altering substances, “If you lived here, you’d be home by now!” Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Home, Pandemic, Road Trip, Spring Fever, Staycation, Travel, Vaccination

Dec 12 2020

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Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Riding the Coronacoaster

Coronacoaster (noun): the ups and downs of a person’s mood, or life generally, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Some people experience motion sickness and avoid amusement park thrill rides. I’m one of those people. I’m also a person who has a reoccurring dream when I wrestle control of vehicles headed in a dangerous trajectory to avoid catastrophe or death. Those began as a child, when from the backseat of the car, I leaped to the front seat to grab the steering wheel from my parents. Oh, My!

Yes, I’m on the coronacoaster and I want to get off — or seize control! Continue reading →

Tagged Control, Coronacoaster, COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, New Year, Pandemic, Recovery, Reoccurring Dreams, Social Distancing, Solitude, Winter

Mixed Metaphors

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

Tag Archives: Home

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

Within these Walls: Moving Stories

Within these Walls: Oral History

Travel Musings