Category Archives: Uncategorized

The women who raised me shared a suspicion of sparkly, yet were drawn to it. This meant that indulging in sparkles and rhinestones and festoonery was reserved for Easter hats and the occasional formal event. Easter-hat-shopping assumed remarkable and multigenerational … Continue reading →

In our Elmhurst ranch house basement, Dad housed his outboard motor in the way-back part of the space where few of his three children ever ventured. This may have been deliberate in the sense that his outboard motor was one … Continue reading →

My Grandma Janda mothered six children in Chicago, worked for Sears Roebuck & Co., prayed her rosary, worshiped the Chicago White Sox and baked houska bread. Making houska became, in her later widow years, what you might call a cottage … Continue reading →

Living in Illinois is like living on a tablecloth. It’s flatter than a credit card. There are few, if any clumps, divets or elevations, excluding the Kahokia Indian mounds protruding here and there. We make up for this with a … Continue reading →

I like things in threes. So tidy. Here’s three facts I like that have little or no relation to each other: 1. This month (Feb.’12) Russian scientists popped through 13,000 feet of ice and reached Lake Vostok in Antartica. This … Continue reading →

There are many reasons folks don’t write. lack of talent isn’t one of them. The notion that writing can’t be defined is. The notion that it’s magic or elusive is bunk. Writing is incredibly define-able. Take any story, any story … Continue reading →

The good news about the bad news is that more good news than bad happens. Tisn’t news that news delivers the bad stuff in barrages. That’s it’s job. Been that way since drum beaters alerted tribal brothers that warpainted bad … Continue reading →

When words are off on holiday someplace you are not, numbers can abide the time. Here’s a few: 50The average age of authors (1955-2004) when their novels hit #1 on New York Times bestseller list. 27The number of publishers who … Continue reading →

I was named Michele instead of Lisa (a name Mom liked immensely) because Mom judged “Lisa Larson” put folks in a sing-songy frame of mind. “Lisa Larson,” “Lisa Larson,” does have a tweety-bird ring to it, I agree; yet I … Continue reading →

It behooves us to honor elocution (a manner of speaking in public) as learning opportunities, what eloquent teachers might call teachable moments. Lately there have been several turns of phrase by speakers of English I never heard before. This may … Continue reading →