Applying for a job has always been a demoralizing and intimidating proposition. It’s a dance with a scorpion, but in days that have now apparently gone by, it was fairly civil. Today, I notice a trend toward downright hostile job postings. “Apply if you dare” seems to be the latest edgy new-age banter. The want ads throw down the gauntlet and challenge you to...

This morning, hidden in the usual infotainment glob that passes for news, I heard an intriguing story. A group of teens at a Texas high school have declared today a “No Makeup Day”. The say they want to focus on inner beauty and they are encouraging their female classmates to go bare-faced for a full 24 hours. What struck me was that the girls explained that they...

In the wild, I’d be dead. Some predator that looked to me like a friendly dog would turn out to be a hungry lion. My distance vision has been limited since I was in grade school, making life without prescription eye wear just one messy blur. But, with easy access to strong specs, I go about my business like I can actually see. At 40, I began to notice that...

At 55, I realize that there’s no way I am going to look years younger. Looking years younger takes lots of time – and lots of money. Those brown spots on my face from the decades prior to sunscreen aren’t going away with fade creams. Fine, I’ll have a doctor laser them off. The sticker shock sends me running for the concealer. I have half the hair I...

Every morning, I get into the shower and when I step under the water for the first time, I think “you’re so lucky, so incredibly lucky.” I have clean, hot water – all I want, whenever I want. I can splash like a bird in more water than some people see in a year. I live indoors and I have heat and air conditioning and plenty of food. I’m lucky. So stinkin’...

For decades, I have been trying to outguess, and outrun, the whim of the marketplace when it comes to what colors are “in”.  I’m constantly bitch-slapped by unseen forces who determine what color my world will be. First the color cops seized control of my home décor. When I wanted clear petal pink, everything was dusty rose.  When I wanted barn red, the...

I don’t play games. Everyone knows this. I don’t like competition. There’s enough of that out in the world, why would I want to intentionally have more? But, something in the tense black eyebrows of the angry red bird beckoned me, “join us and fight the good fight!” I was bored and somewhat hostile, so I began to launch birds at those smug, grinning pigs...