Archives in Category: Writing

Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Casually Elegant

Posted on May 10, 2007

Today I heard a commercial on the radio for a restaurant that billed itself as “casually elegant.” It struck a wrong note.

I mean, either you are a casual restaurant or an elegant restaurant; but I do not believe you

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Not Just Maybe

Posted on May 1, 2007

When I returned to blogging this past January I started with an essay titled “Maybe I’m Back.” It was meant to provide wiggle room in case I found blogging wasn’t interesting any more. But with the technical difficulties that have

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Blogging

Posted on April 9, 2007

I started writing a blog to keep my mind and my fingers nimble, to maintain a facility with words I’d gained as a freelance writer of long standing. That was almost three years ago, when I quit the freelance world

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The Best Unwords

Posted on March 7, 2007

I recently ran across a website that publishes words used in general conversation but which have not attained dictionary status yet. It’s a great example of the fluidity of our language.

I offer some of the more appealing words here

 … finish reading The Best Unwords

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Missing Molly

Posted on February 12, 2007

Molly Ivins, the syndicated liberal columnist who heralded from the same state as our current President, died about ten days ago after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was my age, sixty-two.

It was a surprise, not only because

 … finish reading Missing Molly

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The Glass Castle

Posted on January 20, 2007

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to read more, since I hardly read half a dozen books in 2006. Oh, I salved my conscience with magazines and newspapers and catalogs, but that is hardly what I’d call quality reading.

 … finish reading The Glass Castle

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Maybe I’m Back

Posted on January 17, 2007

Early this morning, Earl and I returned from our annual January search for warm weather and sun. After all, we live in the upper Midwest. This year’s pilgrimage led us to Tahiti in French Polynesia, where we were pampered for

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A Wedding in December

Posted on July 24, 2006

I just finished Anita Shreve’s latest novel, A Wedding in December, and have decided that many authors are at their best before they are discovered and required to write a book a year. Shreve’s latest is formulaic, reminiscent of others’

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Pride

Posted on July 20, 2006

Three days ago I spoke to Loralee Mendez’s college class, the one she teaches on creative writing. She asked me to come because she had used one of my published essays — the one about meeting my father for the

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Thank You Notes

Posted on July 11, 2006

I have three friends who write wonderful thank you notes, the pen-to-paper kind that come in the mail. The kind most of us dreaded writing as children because we didn’t know how to get past “Dear Aunt Jane, Thank you

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