Re-ignited and it Feels so Good
October 9, 2008, by Connie Stetson
“A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless.
All a woman has to do is put you on hold.” —Marlo Thomas
Hilarious. I’m laughing so hard I think I’m gonna puke.
A friend recently commented to me that my renewed, reborn feminism was making me seem hard and angry and edgy, that in my speaking passionately—without compromise—I just wasn’t coming across as soft. This friend is a woman. She thinks I need to get laid. Of course I need to get laid. Who doesn’t? Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Politics, Rants | 4 Comments
Have Praise House Will Travel
October 7, 2008, by Melissa Howden
Taos Pueblo, Photo by M. A. Howden
I am not entirely sure that this is true but I would wager a guess that any doctor would say that it is physically impossible for the heart to expand at the same time you are gasping for breath. But I am here to tell you it is possible, not an entirely comfortable or peaceful state, but telling in its own way.
Not that long ago I went to the 60th birthday celebration of my beloved Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. Specializing in the soul survival music of the African diaspora in the Americas—I’ve seen the choir perform many, many times in their 18 years (most memorably at my 50th birthday celebration last year—one of the greatest nights of my life). A “riff whisperer” with an encyclopedic knowledge of her material, Linda and the CHC always have the effect of expanding the collective heart in the room, raising it up and leaving you gasping for breath at the same time. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Melissa Howden, Travel | 7 Comments
Tight and Young
October 2, 2008, by Carine Fabius
So, being 51 and all, I was told by my doctor to have a colonoscopy. Oh, boy! After putting it off for months, I get around to shopping online for a low-cost endoscopy center because, after doing the math, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am best off with a catastrophic insurance policy (as in, really high deductible). Of course, I have not yet reached my deductible, and must shell out the dough for my adventure in rectal exploration. To my delight, I find a Korean doctor, who is a Harvard graduate affiliated with fancy hospitals around town, and he only charges $600 for the procedure!
At the initial consultation, I am comforted by his clean, modern office, four smiling staffers, and well-heeled crowd in the waiting room. However, when I leave the office—minutes after one gloved finger minus lubricant up my bum—I’m feeling sore. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Carine Fabius, Health | 7 Comments
If At First You Don’t Succeed…
September 30, 2008, by Christie Healey
Haven’t we all fantasized about suddenly and magically being able to exploit some hidden attribute to the astonishment and envy of our friends? Leap on stage and play brilliant jazz piano, grab the mike and really rock a song like Amy Winehouse or Sassy Vaughn, or in a critical lifesaving moment, fluently burst into the right foreign language—all without the years of practice, not to mention having the actual talent in the first place. Waltermittyosis is a condition that I am certain affects 99 percent of the population. What about the other one percent? They include the aforementioned chanteuses, Marion McPartland, Diana Krall and thousands of well-studied multilinguists—all who know what it takes to get to Carnegie Hall.
I have always wanted to have some form of certification for the type of legal work I do. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Christie Healey, Reinvention | 8 Comments
Prelude to an Empty Nest
September 25, 2008, by Prudence Baird
The screen door bangs shut behind me, echoing in a house that only last week was filled with the last frantic scrabblings of summer vacation.
The school backpacks no longer hang on their hooks by the door; they are off for another tour of duty filled with new spiral notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, pocket-sized tissue packs and re-charged cell phones.
I stand just inside the front door, unable to move. Unwilling to hang up my keys. Incapable of addressing this morning’s breakfast dishes, still in the sink.
I am paralyzed by the sudden realization that all too soon there will be no more first days of school. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Parenting, Prudence Baird | 13 Comments
On Ripening
September 23, 2008, by Connie Stetson
Reclining Fig with Raven by Julie Higgins
“It is sad to grow old, but nice to ripen.” —Brigitte Bardot
Being a woman in full flower, of a certain age, and ripe, ripe, ripe, I often find myself comparing how I was to how I am. CBF (Connie Before Fifty) was just a glimmer of who I am becoming. Confidence, discipline, integrity, fearlessness would come and go like the Aurora Borealis—shining, colorful and dazzling; dancing and playing for all it’s worth.
Then the self-talk would take over. I’d tell myself all sorts of half-truths. That I wasn’t worthy, couldn’t fulfill my promises, can’t do that, too tired, they’ll find out I’m a fraud, they don’t need me, I can’t cut it, or worst of all, they don’t like me. I’d go about proving why all those things were true, hate myself for a few months, then gear up my energy for another go round, and again, fly and sing and be in my true self. It was exhausting. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Courage | 3 Comments
Letter From a Pit Bull
September 18, 2008, by Carine Fabius
Dear Sarah Palin,
You said the only difference between a hockey mom (you) and a pit bull (me) is lipstick. I take issue with this characterization.
Pit bulls are fiercely loyal to the hand that feeds them. The government of the United States feeds you plenty, but in a couple of speeches you cheered on the Alaska Independence Party, whose goal is to secede from the U.S., and whose leader professed his “hatred for the American government” and said, “I won’t be buried under their damn flag.” You even invited the party to this year’s convention. And, your husband was a registered member of the party. You are no loyal American. And you are no pit bull. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Carine Fabius, Politics, Rants | 7 Comments
The State of PanicManic
September 16, 2008, by Melissa Howden
I am in a STATE!
I intended to write about praise houses because they are about transcendence—something I am in dire need of, and I may still—but for the moment I am completely worked up, alternating between immobilizing anxiety and manic activity. I call it PanicManic. The onset of PanicManic started with the polls stating Obama and McCain were neck and neck. It was then I began gasping for breath.
Despite all evidence to the contrary I am still stunned by the fact that I live in a country that actually believes someone such as Sarah Palin is worthy of consideration to perhaps run this country. And I have been overwhelmed with email from great thinkers and people of note—people for whom I have great respect, focusing on the Sarah Palin issue: “What do we do about Sarah Palin?” Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Melissa Howden, Politics | 8 Comments
Technology: Blessing or Curse?
September 12, 2008, by Cathy Fischer
Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination.
—Attributed to Albert Einstein
At a conference last spring I learned that baby boomers have in fact embraced technology, however they are typically five years behind the curve. Early adopters? Not so much.
By day I’m an online producer. I work on websites. I don’t build them or make them function (the smart folks I work with do that) I’m all about content—what’s on the screen and how to get people to find, read, explore or interact with it—hoping it’s time well-spent. In the mid 1990s, I had a yellow handwritten Post-it Note on my computer. Like an affirmation it read, “Fear not the machine.” And soon, I got over it—the fear that is. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Cathy Fischer, Technology | 11 Comments
Dog Blog
September 9, 2008, by Connie Stetson
“I am the Lord Thy Dog and Thy Dog is a jealous Dog.
Thou shalt have no other Dog before me….”
Izzy Lamb Stetson ?/?/95-8/26/08
We had talked about dog adoption for nearly a year before I wandered into our local “no-kill” shelter. There were six others; snarling, jumping pit bull mixes of varying hue and stripe, though it looked like they all came from the same father. She was alone in a kennel, a lovely, blonde pup Lab-thing, quietly gazing up at me, her pleading eyes begging, “Please MOMMY, take me home.” Which, of course, I did, and Isabella AKA Izzy, Lamb, Bean, Izzybeanie and You Little Shit, became our first dog. Read more
Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Family | 9 Comments
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