Racine | Mixed Metaphors

Mar 05 2016

Posts

On the Move Again!

“The first step in getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” — Unknown

It’s that time of year in Madison, Wisconsin when U-Hauls and Two Men and a Truck will soon clog the streets. Popup curbside flea markets appear overnight as university students dump their second-hand furniture and poorly-assembled IKEA desks and bookcases rather than move them. It’s so commonplace that when student leases expire on August 15^th, we’ve dubbed it “Hippie Christmas.” Continue reading →

Tagged Aging in Place, Cohousing, Home, Letting Go, Madison, Moving, New Beginnings, Packing, Racine, Third Act, Third Place, Unpacking, UW Madison, UW Parkside, Wisconsin

Jan 31 2016

4 Comments

Posts

The Loud Family Loses a Loved One

We Say Goodbye to Our Matriarch

First, a little background: In 1973 American TV audiences were introduced to a groundbreaking 12-part documentary series on PBS entitled An American Family featuring the Louds, an upper middle class family in Santa Barbara, California. This was considered the first reality TV series. Keeping with its irreverent tradition of satirizing American culture, Saturday Night Live in season four, episode six, created its own Loud family, starring Jane Curtin as Mrs. Loud, Bill Murray as Mr. Loud and their daughters, Gilda Radner and guest host, Carrie Fisher with supporting characters played by John Belushi, Dan Ayckroyd and Garrett Morris. Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Death, Ethel Mae Lenzke, Family, Father, Friends, Funeral, Grandmother, Grieving, Home, Loss, Love, Matriarch, Mother, Racine, Sisters, Stories, The Loud Family, Wife

Dec 22 2015

1 Comment

Posts

Full Moon on Christmas Day: Part I

Pre-Holiday Musings & Memories of Christmas Past

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” — Laura Ingalls Wilder

“The bright moon glows amongst pines.” — Wang Wei

Christmas approaches and for those who celebrate this Christian holiday — or families like mine of Northern European heritage who practice a more Americanized consumer tradition —we are being treated to a Full Cold Moon on Christmas Day. The Full Cold Moon is also called the Long Night Moon by some Native American tribes because it’s near the Winter Solstice. Continue reading →

Tagged Childhood Memories, Christmas, Christmas Tree, Family, Family Traditions, Fifties, Full Cold Moon, Full Moon, Gifts, Holidays, Home, Ornaments, Racine, Santa, Sixties, Tinsel, Winter Solstice

Nov 29 2015

Posts

Waxing Sentimental

Nostalgia: (n.) a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.

Tomorrow, Monday, November 30^th is Cyber Monday. It’s the online equivalent of Black Friday, the Monday following Thanksgiving when people return to work and shop online and take advantage of deep discounts and promotions. In late November 2005, The New York Times reported: “The name Cyber Monday grew out of the observation that millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work Monday and buying what they liked.” Continue reading →

Tagged Baby Boomers, Bookstores, Brick & Mortar, Cyber Monday, E-Commerce, Films, Madison, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Online Retailers, Racine, Record Stores, Seventies, Sixties, Third Place, Tower Records, Video Stores

Oct 05 2015

2 Comments

Posts

Random Topics

Historical Smoking, Coffee Naps, and Blog Writing & Babysitting

As a blogger, I mine my daily life for topics to write about. I set out to find something timely and meaningful, something that my readers can relate to, a universal message or lesson to discover in my lived experience. Another option is to choose a subject from the news of the day to comment on, however sometimes current events are tragically overwhelming, as in the gun violence and murders this week at a community college in Oregon, or the suicide of loved LGBTQ activist-youth who lost his battle with depression right here in Madison. In these cases I need time to sit with my feelings and formulate my thoughts before putting fingers to keyboard. Continue reading →

Tagged Blog Writing, Cigarettes, Cinephile, Coffee Naps, E-Cigarettes, Historical Smoking, Madison, Movie Ratings, Movies, Racine, Random

Sep 20 2015

1 Comment

Posts

Pick a Metaphor: Life-Planning

The Three Boxes of Life
Whack-a-Mole
Juggling: When All the Balls Are in the Air

As readers of my blog already know, I like to mix metaphors. Today I introduce the first installment of another Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! series entitled, Pick a Metaphor. In this series I will choose a topic and look at it based on a number of metaphors. What I have found in my own life is that sometimes the metaphor I select to describe an issue I’m facing sets the tone of how I will think and feel about it. Continue reading →

Tagged Death, Family, Friends, Home, LGBTQ, Life-Planning, Madison, Metaphors, Racine, Relationships, Retirement, Third Act, Work, Working Class

Sep 06 2015

Posts

The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation

“A vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.”— Urban Dictionary

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

It’s that time of year again when September arrives and I extend the Labor Day holiday by taking my annual Staycation. While students return to school after their families unpack from vacation and pack those back-to-school backpacks full of brand new school supplies, I take a break from my day-to-day work routines and make my “to-do only if I want to lists.” Continue reading →

Tagged Autumn, Family, Films, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journaling, Journals, Madison, Movies, Racine, September, Staycation, The Changing Seasons, Wisconsin, Work, Writing

Jun 06 2015

1 Comment

Posts

The Tale of Two Quilts

“What goes around comes around.” — The basic definition of how karma, the law of cause and effect, works.

“And in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take.” — Lyrics from the Beatles song, The End, composed by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon-McCartney. It was the last song recorded collectively by all four Beatles from the album, Abbey Road.

This is a tale of two quilts, two long-term relationships, two sisters and two lessons about karma. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Activism, Catholic, Death, Eighties, Existentialism, Family, Feminism, Higher Power, Karma, Loss, Love, Marriage, Memoir, Quilts, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Seventies, Sisters, Sixties

May 23 2015

1 Comment

Posts

Get Your Skates On!

“I want anyone who has ever said or felt that women are weak in any way to strap on a pair of skates and play two minutes of roller derby with them.” — Emily Mills, “Hammer Abby,” Quad Squad, Mad Rollin’ Dolls

As a writer, I’m sometimes invited to participate in a collaborative project or respond to a writing prompt. The day before Mother’s Day, I had the pleasure of joining three writers for what was described as a “writing attack.” Each of us was to interpret the call-to-action in our own way. The assignment was for the blog, True Stories Well Told, managed by my reminiscence-writing coach and mentor, Sarah White, for her summer series, Season of Sports. Continue reading →

Tagged Fans, Mad Rollin' Dolls, Memoir, Racine, Roller Skating, Sheroes, Sixties, Stories, The fifties, Women's Roller Derby, Women's Sports, Writing

Feb 11 2015

1 Comment

Posts

Valentine Blues

(Or, How I Learned to Love the Holiday)

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” — Charles Schulz

First, please don’t make assumptions about the content of this essay based on its title, or misconstrue this writer’s intent. This is not a, “Poor me I’m single on Valentine’s Day missive,” or, “This is a ridiculous Hallmark Card, florist and chocolatier’s, consumer-driven, holiday.” No, instead let me go on record, I like Valentine’s Day and all the accompanying hearts and flowers, sophomoric poetry, and dinner dates with a special someone. Some years I’ve been known to give, receive and enjoy them. Continue reading →

Tagged Crushes, High School Newspaper, Holidays, Journalism, Kid's Valentines, LGBTQ, Love, Madison, Marriage, Poetry, Queer, Racine, Relationships, University of Wisconsin, Valentine's Day

Mixed Metaphors

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

Tag Archives: Racine

On the Move Again!

The Loud Family Loses a Loved One

Full Moon on Christmas Day: Part I

Waxing Sentimental

Random Topics

Pick a Metaphor: Life-Planning

The Pleasures (and Lessons) of a Staycation

The Tale of Two Quilts

Get Your Skates On!

Valentine Blues