Memories | Mixed Metaphors

Feb 05 2024

Posts

The Last Goodbye

We bid farewell to our father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

“Someday I’m going to write a book about our family!” — This writer as a defiant 16-year-old.

“I look forward to reading it!” — Our beloved mother

First, I haven’t drafted and posted new content for this blog since the end of October. The past three months have been a challenge and an unexpected journey. Though I’ve not written for my blog, I’ve done more writing during this period compared to what is typical. Most of it communication with bio and chosen family, journal entries, and social media posts. Continue reading →

Tagged Blatz Party, Brother, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Elegy for my father, Family, Father, Friends, Funeral, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Internment, Loss, Love, Memorial, Memories, Mother, Obituary, Racine, Stories, Tag Team Sisters, Tribute to my father, Visitation

Sep 17 2023

Posts

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Meditation definition (Oxford Languages) – a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.

Mortality definition (Oxford Languages) – the state of being subject to death.

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live.” — Joan Baez

As a person of a certain age — living my seventh decade — death and dying are on my mind.

Recently, there have been unexpected deaths of friends and loved ones, plus celebrities and artists in the public sphere, caused by accidents, deadly health crisis, unknown reasons, suicide, or overdose. When we’re unprepared for the sudden news, it’s both shocking and unsettling. For many of us, it’s a reminder of our own mortality. Continue reading →

Tagged 9/11, Celebration of Life, Chosen Family, Death, Death and Dying, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Legacy, Life and Living, Loss, Love, Meditations, Memoir, Memories, Mortality, Mother, Sisters

May 12 2023

Posts

I’m a Little Bit OCD

I’m a big fan of our premier local theater group, Forward Theater Co. Every other year they mount a monologue festival, featuring about a dozen original monologues from all over the U.S. This year the theme is Out in This World described as follows from their website:

“They say that traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. FTC’s seventh monologue festival, Out in This World, presents twelve storytellers whose tales will take you on journeys both familiar and unexpected. Whether venturing to faraway places or making discoveries closer to home, this collection of original monologues will transport you. Who knows where the path might lead?” Continue reading →

Tagged Cape Cod, Forward Theater Monologue Festival, Grief, I'm a Little Bit OCD, Inn on Cook Street, Koi Cottage, Loss, Memories, Out in This World, Provincetown, The Lobster Pot, Things Change, Vacation

Apr 09 2023

Posts

Poop Eggs, Orphan Holidays, Home Alone, & Gratitude

“For me, this holiday is a time for reflection, for renewing a spiritual connection, and for experiencing the hope and promise of the new beginnings of the spring season.” — An excerpt from my journal, Perfectly Flawed.

Leading up to Easter this year, I spent a lot of time reminiscing, rereading journal entries from holidays past and Easter-themed blog musings. Holidays, and the family rituals which we grew up with and the memories that remain, are mile markers of our journey in life. They provide a backdrop of the values and traditions of our ancestry and worship, the foundation of our beliefs. From childhood to adulthood, to this third chapter in my life, holiday traditions and rituals have evolved, some things nostalgically remain the same, others changed as I changed, and as the world changed. Continue reading →

Tagged Bio Family, Childhood Memories, Chosen Family, Death, Easter, Easter Dinner, Family, Family Traditions, Father, Friends, Holidays, Lamb Cake, Memories, Mother, Pandemic, Poop Egg, Spring, The Orphan Holidays, Things Change, Wisconsin Film Festival

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

Jan 11 2022

Posts

My Love/Hate Relationship with Technology

“Life was much easier when apple and blackberry were just fruits.” — Ray Bradbury

First, let me share some background. I’m a baby boomer, a couple of days shy of my 72^nd birthday. Let me begin, “Aging isn’t for sissies,” yet I’m grateful to be above ground. Hopefully, this information should provide some perspective on why I’m a late adopter and my love/hate relationship with technology. Continue reading →

Tagged Aging, Communication, Facebook, Family, Father, Flip Phones, Gender Bias, Late Adopter, Mansplaining, Memoir, Memories, Social Media, Technology

Sep 11 2021

Posts

9/11: When Time Stops & Memories Live On

September 11 attacks began at 7:46 AM (CST) on Tuesday, September 11, 2001

On That Day

It was an absolutely perfect, late summer, early fall day. The sky was blue — almost translucent — clear and cloudless. The temperature was mild, in the 60’s that morning. I was getting dressed for work. Before I left for the office, I called one of my best friends and chosen family, Donna Salverson. Continue reading →

Tagged 20th Anniversary of 9/11, 9/11, Collective Experience, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Loss, Memories, Pandemic

Sep 06 2021

Posts

Pandemic Staycation Redux: Safer-at-Home

Staycation: A vacation spent at home or near home, doing enjoyable activities or visiting local attractions. — Dictionary.com

Labor Day weekend has historically been the beginning of my annual Staycation, usually 7-10 days which I take off of work and remain close to home. It’s also what I can afford to do as I make choices with my discretionary income and travel often falls off the list. It sounds a little mundane, yet it serves me. This time is a vacation from my routines and allows me to practice spontaneity and rather than check off things on my to-do list — which I regularly make for the week ahead — instead I make a “to-do only if I want to list,” which I add and subtract to as I wish. Yes, I’m a little OCD. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Labor Day, Memories, Pandemic, Pod Squad, Post-Pandemic, Pre-Pandemic, Safer-at-Home, Seasons, Staycation

Jul 18 2021

Posts

Summer of Soul Revisited

“Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future.” — Corrie ten Boom

Memories provide us perspective on understanding the present from the lens of the past. Memories are also a portal to the future as lived experiences and our history are revisited by new generations. Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Antiwar Movement, Civil Rights, Dick Gregory, Flower Children, Friends, Hippies, Madison, Memories, Music, Politics, Racine, San Francisco, Sixties, Star Trek, Summer of Love, Summer of Soul, University of Wisconsin, WNOV, Woodstock

Mixed Metaphors

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

Tag Archives: Memories

The Last Goodbye

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

I’m a Little Bit OCD

Poop Eggs, Orphan Holidays, Home Alone, & Gratitude

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

Childhood Comfort Food: Served with Memories

9/11: When Time Stops & Memories Live On

Pandemic Staycation Redux: Safer-at-Home

Summer of Soul Revisited