“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
“Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future.” — Corrie ten Boom
Every two years, Madison’s Forward Theater launches a monologue festival with a dedicated theme. From their website, “Forward Theater’s biennial monologue festival is back! Featuring a dozen original pieces written just for us by playwrights from across our community and around the nation, this festival celebrates the many different ways creative authors can approach a common subject. Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Wisconsin’s ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, our Two Steps Forward festival will encompass a wide variety of perspectives on and interpretations of our state’s long progressive tradition.” I’ve submitted monologues in the past and did so again this year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t selected. The Two Steps Forward monologue festival will be performed one weekend in June 2019. I suggest you get your tickets now. I have mine! Following is my monologue submission: Continue reading
“Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future.” — Corrie ten Boom
“Life is divided into three terms – that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.” — William Wordsworth
It’s been a month since I wrote and posted an essay on Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! The present has been occupying my attention and engaging my time. In early June I intended to draft a reminiscence about 1968, the year I graduated from high school. In September I’ll attend a 50-year high school reunion in my hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. Oh, My! Continue reading
“My life is better with every year of living it.” — Rachel Maddow
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Grateful. The past weekend I celebrated another trip around the sun, 365 days, one-day-at-a-time. Songs come to mind, the first from the soundtrack of my life as a young woman growing up in the fifties and sixties, Bob Dylan’s, My Back Pages, followed by memories of people, both here and gone, and my gratitude for their presence in my life, Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Continue reading
Note: This the fourth installment of The Toilet Zone, a commentary series on the Trump presidency.
“Your silence will not protect you.” ― Audre Lorde
We are approaching the first six months of the Trump presidency. While I write, during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, Trump met for the first time with Russian President, Vladimir Putin. After a brief public press event, they convened for over two hours behind closed doors. It’s been reported that Trump opened the meeting by confronting Putin on Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. As was to be expected, Putin denied it. Representatives for each leader who were in the room, told different stories describing the tenor and tone of the meeting. No surprise. Continue reading
UPDATE 02/25/2020: Three years ago, I began working part-time for my employer for whom I had worked full-time as a manager for almost 10 years. I became an hourly employee and the trade-off was I was able to work 20 hours a week and have three-day weekends.
Now that this job is ending, due to a company reorg, I’m reconsidering returning to full-time employment if I can combine my professional and avocational experience. In this third chapter of my life, I’d like to do work that aligns with my passions and commitment to social justice. Following is the original post from February 25, 2017.
It’s still winter in Wisconsin. After a week of record-breaking temperatures of spring-like weather — a hopeful tease of things to come — then came the rain, sleet, ice pellets, followed by snow and howling winds. We’re reminded that winter remains for a few more weeks before spring arrives. Spring is a season of hope and new beginnings. So is my life today, as I cross the threshold of my third act. Cue up Dolly Parton, no more “9 to 5.” Continue reading
“There’s room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill” —John Lennon, Working Class Hero
In July both the Republican and Democratic Presidential Conventions concluded. Each party, their supporters, speakers, and candidates have driven stakes, describing in detail— some more than others — their position on the issues, their plans for the future, and identified who their party represents, or not. The Republicans embraced fear, law and order, and promised to “Make America Great Again.” The Democrats expressed optimism for the future and reaffirmed that America is already great, in fact, in the words of Michelle Obama, “This right now is the greatest country on earth.” And as a people, we are “Stronger Together.” Continue reading
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
Nostalgia: (n.) a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.
Tomorrow, Monday, November 30th 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
“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