Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

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Monday, October 15, 2018

Idioms & Sayings

Abdel from the Write Your Own Story group at The Center read my novel "Bloody Hell and a Slice of Pie," and later made the comment that I used a lot of idioms in my book. Most of us would never have noticed, but one whose formal education in a French school system would probably have been taught UK... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Excerpt: (Untitled First Draft)

Chap ter 1: When you’re 13 years old, you begin to weigh factors in your life and make decisions about what you’d do if you were in charge. At the same time you realize the one in charge is absolutely not going to see things your way. Even more frustrating & scary is the realization the adult in... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 13, 2018

KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID

Dreamed last night about a party house, big old farmhouse on a rural road, porch all around complete with rocking chairs and folks standing around with drinks in hand, every window in the house lit up like a giant decorated cake. I was being dropped off in a chauffeured limo. It was the hour just... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, October 12, 2018

TIPS FROM THE DARK SIDE

So you got a job at state college or the county clerk's office. Here’s what you need to know that HR won’t tell you at orientation: The first rule of bureaucracy, one that is not printed in the official handbook, is CYA [i]. Remember that perception is often more important than fact. Success (even... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

REMEMBER POGO - THE COMIC STRIP?

Got a reminder call from the eye doctor’s office about Monday’s scheduled appointment. After I said hello … a rude, loud robot began offering options, ‘press 1 if ___’ ‘press 2 if ____’. I do not like phone robo sales pitches, campaign ads, etc. And I am not happy about having a robot give me orders... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

CRAZY TUESDAY….

Yesterday was my morning at the front desk at the Main Street Center. It had been closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day. It was Food Box day when volunteers deliver commodity boxes of canned goods and staples to low income people. Folks from the Rotary bring fresh produce that needs to be... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

MASTER CLASSES

For my birthday my younger daughter signed me up for a writer’s master class online – this one taught by no less than Margaret Atwood, whose dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been adapted for TV. I spent about two hours watching Ms. Atwood’s class – it is broken up into short segments, two... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, October 8, 2018

MUTT & JEFF: THE HOT STOVE LEAGUE

From about 100 years ago there was a comic strip called Mutt & Jeff about two “mismatched tinhorns.” Jeff was very tall, Mutt was very short. I remember the black & white comic strips, and we’re still using Mutt & Jeff to describe an uneven situation. There’s a family legend about just such an... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 6, 2018

STORY FROM THE CENTER (WYOS, THURSDAY)

JEEPERS & OTHER CHILDHOOD FRIENDS Washington State is a squarish state, divided from north to south by the Cascades. The western half is cool, damp, forested and exposed to the Pacific Ocean while the eastern half is hot dry desert. They’ve irrigated it now, but when I was a kid the open areas were... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, October 5, 2018

BENEATH CONTEMPT

It is one thing when a randy teen-age boy doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and quite another when a grown man makes sarcastic, denigrating remarks about women who survive assaults but don’t report it until years later. We could make allowances for a kid who thinks sex is just another game where he’s... Sign in to see full entry.

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