I don’t mean to sound gloomy, but these days after Christmas often make me think of death. They always have. But I’ve been more aware of life’s fleeting, poignant character in recent years. My mother died four years ago on January 3rd, and she labored under hospice care during this normally festive week. So now,…

You know, this Chattering Mind blog is currently attracting some 25,000 unique visitors a month. And usually, you readers are a relatively quiet bunch. But inspiring chatter was indeed released by my three-part series on the clutter we keep in our closets and basements! My play-ZZTop-to-your-stagnating-garbage suggestion really hit ya’ll in the right spot! I…

I once wrote an essay called “Why Women Smile” for the women’s magazine Lear’s. More than fifteen years later, I’m still receiving checks from academic presses planning to re-run the article because, apparently, it “teaches well” in first-year college writing classes. This smile piece has also been featured in a lovely textbook called “The Writer’s…

“Who is the audience for this thing?” my 91-year-old father asked, clearly perplexed. I had my laptop out, and I was kneeling beside him, scrolling through my weblog, stopping at items I’d written that he might like. He awkwardly leaned forward to read through his trifocals, and I kept adjusting the angle of the portable…

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