This post starts a new series where I revisit the fascinating stories of interesting people I’ve had the opportunity to meet while writing for a living. Earlier this week I went on a solo road trip into the hills of the Southern Tier of New York State. I went to meet Michael and Carolyn Czarnecki …
Game-changers
“We the people…”
In three days, our country will celebrate 236 years since a group of middle-aged, fairly well-off white guys declared independence from a super-rich white guy they had never even met. It boiled down to this: They didn’t much care to fork over their hard-earned money to someone who did little beyond dress well, eat well, …
Acting the Part
Summertime when we were kids 25-30 years ago (cringe with me, friends) may have been the last gasps of unstructured play. The moms were mostly home and if not, an older sibling and anyone else home on the street were accepted as generally enough supervision. These moms did not want their kids or anyone else’s …
Love is…
We are unconventional in certain matters of coupledom. My husband and I do not exchange gifts for our anniversary, except for the milestones. We got married in our backyard and had the reception there, too; it was a gorgeous, relaxed, fondly remembered day. And, we never buy gifts or go out for Valentine’s Day. For …
Quit. (or not)
I am not a quitter. I’m actually something of a pit-bull when it comes to things like computer trouble-shooting (please, don’t email me for tech support), under-performing processes and problem-solving in general. I do not let go. Needle in a haystack? Don’t throw away your thread. Lost your wedding band in the snow picking up …
Month One, Day One
This post was going to be about “Resolve,” but it turns out that the definition runs against much of my current thinking. Resolve [a: To break up, separate, also, to change by disintegration; b: to reduce by analysis; c: to distinguish between or make independently visible adjacent parts of; d: to separate into two components] …
Opening
Five years ago this Christmas, I gave The Husband a digital SLR camera. His film rig, which is a fairly professional set-up, had been gathering dust for a few years at that point. As the prolonged death of film photography hastened, so did his interest in taking pictures. He studied photography in college and already …
Copy Cat
This past week I wrapped up an online Copy Writing course, my first “formal” effort to get practical writing experience and build my credibility. It was an exhilarating time of study, creative exercises and homework; I forgot how much I truly thrive in a learning environment. It does return me to the question that begs …