A few days ago my 88-year father, the brilliant cook in the family, started cooking for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners. I’ve heard “stay out of the kitchen,” since I was a child. Dad simply prefers to work alone and has never desired to reveal his culinary secrets. Spices are swiped on and off … Continue reading
It was a strange place for an English class, the small, dilapidated building near the campus center. Neglected, the building was in its last year of service before a scheduled overhaul and modernization. The rectangular structure lacked architectural imagination, two-stories with a corridor down the middle–not exactly inspiring. Certainly the size and stature of the … Continue reading
Fiction writing technique can easily apply to memoir. All writers seek to write the most compelling story, whether emphasizing character or action, but fiction writers have the flexibility to bend the universe to suit there needs whereas memoir writers are stuck with the (sometimes boring) truth. How can memoir writers discover more exciting ways … Continue reading
I wrote last month about my boredom with the ALS ice bucket challenge, so thought that I should devote equal attention to a different social media challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. My friend Joanne E. posted on her Facebook page, “Here’s the idea: In your status list 10 books that have stayed with you in … Continue reading
If you’re like most of America, you’re tired of the ALS ice bucket challenge videos on Facebook. Even though we’ve all been alerted to the fact that wasting water isn’t exactly the best message to send to the millions of people in the world who don’t have clean water to drink, we all want to … Continue reading
Pickles need to be squeezed–who knew? Pickle makers, that’s who! When I learned that my friend Carm was a pickler last Christmas, I let her know that I was anxious to learn if she wanted some help. It’s now pickling season, so I was called to duty in exchange for a terrific lesson in the … Continue reading
I never made a 3-point shot in high school basketball, but that’s because all my adolescent field goals were 2 points in the 1980s. I’m not complaining, though. At the time, I had never watched professional basketball and never missed the 3 pointer, which was added into the NBA rule in 1979. As an adult, … Continue reading
“Do you remember the movie we watched in college–the one I liked so much?” my dear friend Laura called to ask the other day. In an instant, I had returned the correct answer–the movie in question was Highlander. In the 80s, Laura had rented the film on VHS and several of us had crowded around … Continue reading
As a library lover, I have to wonder what the future holds in the wake of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited announcement. $9.99 a month now buys access to over 600K titles. Of course, there are many more millions of books in the world, but what are the majority of people reading? My guess is that most … Continue reading
Hurricane Arthur (aka Hurricane “Uncle Sam”) spoiled a lot of July 4th plans for New Englanders this year. The hurricane brought torrential rainfall to Maine where I was staying in a family cabin. Like so many others, I was housebound for the holiday. Yet, I had to laugh when a high school friend sent a … Continue reading
kelleytjansson 