Southern Sweet Tea or Sugar Coma Lollipops?
Born in Florida, raised in Ohio, with detours through Oklahoma and Texas, I’ve got one foot planted on either side of the Mason-Dixon line. I like grits. But on the subject of iced tea, I’m full blooded Yankee. If you’re trying to cut down on sugar, maybe you should be, too!
candy, culinary, experiment, Popeyes, sweet tea, unsweet tea
Teach Me to Fish
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
Give me a logical answer, or you’ll get a decade of, “Why??”
Shadowbird
Never mistake the Dove of Peace for a pushover, and never eat The Eggs of Wrath.
Food, Photography, Uncategorized
Sunny Sundays
Nothing like a walk in the park to get fit, strong, and healthy.
Nothing like traditional Scottish shortbread to blow all that outta the water!
A Fresher Perspective
When I was a child, change came easy. Change meant new experiences and adventures. I grew up to both dread and appreciate the challenge of change – to dread the drudgery of change as busywork, but also to enjoy the well-earned rewards of a worthwhile challenge.
Closing the Chapter, Beginning a New One!
All good books – and blogs – must come to an end. Luckily, the end of a chapter’s not The End!
Party Like It’s 2019 #WordsMatter
20 years ago, I probably rang in the New Year with Prince’s 1983 hit, Party Like It’s 1999. It would be a long time till I’d feel like partying, again. In 1999, my daughter was in middle school. Columbine happened. It was far away, in another state, but we were still capable of feeling shock, […]
1999, 20 years ago, 2019, reflections, twenty years ago, words matter, wordsmatter
Hell's Little Paving Stones, Humor
It’s Not That Time of the Year Without… #WordsMatter
…sense memories niggling at the back of your brain like caramel corn and candy apples, or mulled cider simmering on the stovetop. Or that one overused autumn trope that deserves to find its face on a red Solo cup.
avoid cliches, descriptive prose, featured, spice, spicy, wordsmatter
Celebrate Banned Books Week!
As a huge fan of our Constitution‘s First Amendment, Banned Books Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. It feels a little like doing battle with the specter of the Dark Ages. Banned books? Is this even a thing in 2019? In America? My daughter and I have a longstanding tradition stemming from […]
banned, banned books week 2019, books, censorship, challenged, featured
That Which We Tolerate, and That Which We Don’t
It’s no secret that I have liberal leanings. I’ve said before that I wish we were “socialist for what we need, and capitalist for all the little luxuries we want,” which oversimplifies, but sums up a “mixed economy” fairly well. I care about people. I believe that, so long as we have it in our […]
bigotry, commerce, discrimination, featured, preference, prejudice
Netiquette in the Nineties
Do we really need to regulate the minutiae of human interaction? Or is it enough to warn of the bigger pitfalls – social gaffes that might well start a war?
artists, bloggers, copyright, courtesy, featured, illustrators, rules for blogging, self-promotion, writers
Can’t Answer Incoming Call from Lock Screen After Android 9 Update?
Sometimes, you just need your mobile phone to act like a phone. After a recent update to the Android operating system – Android 9, July 1 security patch – on my Samsung Galaxy Note 9, I was unable to answer a phone call from the lock screen. I could press the call answer or hang […]
accessibility, android, android 9, answer calls from lock screen, lock screen, settings, unable to answer, update
Raising Men, One Lawn at a Time #WATWB
Children love to help out, to feel valued, and to belong. They are eager volunteers, but there are surprisingly few meaningful opportunities for them to help out in their communities. Raising Men Lawn Care Service seeks to change that.
mowing the lawn, raising men, raising women, volunteers, watwb, youth
Blogging & Social Media Tips, Technical & How-to, Visual Perspectives
Using Android Apps to Make Blog Images #Images #Apps #Android
Making original images with text and graphics is easy, fun, and inexpensive. Why use stock images on your blog, when you can make your own?
android apps, blog graphics, blog images, hbimages, how to make, image editing
Unfathomable #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
The story, so far: Six months into 2019, and I was losing my mind. I saw down on the front step, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and reached into my purse again. It could not possibly be empty. And indeed, it wasn’t. I swore under my breath, a mixture of irritation and relief. […]
Talent #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
We should have seen it coming, but we were all so caught up in the work, so distracted by each breakthrough and invention, that we’d barely had time to breath, eat, or sleep, let alone consider the logical and ethical ramifications of what we’d accomplished.
Saved #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
I felt as though I had willed it into being. It couldn’t not be there, and so, there it was.
Reaching #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
Six months into 2019 and I…
Reviving the Zombie Blog #WriteBravely #WriteTribe
It’s a little dysfunctional, this business of killing off my blog once or twice a year, just so I can revive it.
I love a challenge.
To My Dad, on Father’s Day
Thank you, Dad… …for demonstrating the importance of education, and setting a good example; …for letting me play with your monstrosity of a calculator – I would never understand the math (no doubt, to your everlasting frustration), but its resemblance to a typewriter surely had some influence on me; …for your even temper; …for taking me nice […]
Blogging & Social Media Tips, Technical & How-to
Questions and the Quest for Answers #AtoZChallenge
Do you know how powerful your favorite search engine really is, or how to take advantage of its full capabilities?
advanced search, atozchallenge2019; a2zchallenge, search, search engines, search operators, search syntax
A Periodic Sentence #AtoZChallenge
Perilous storms on the horizon portend tragedy. And help to illustrate a couple of literary terms as they tug at your heartstrings. Plenty of pathos.
a2zchallenge2019, atozchallenge2019, flash fiction, pathos, periodic sentence
Ominous Clouds #AtoZChallenge
O-fficially O-ver The #AtoZChallenge2019 is officially over. Do I throw in the towel, admit “failure”? Oh, no. Nope. I’m going to finish this thing if it takes the next six months. Ominous Clouds In the last week and a half I’ve put over 1600 miles on my car. It’s a 2014 Honda with less than […]
a2zchallenge2019, atozchallenge2019, storm, storm chaser, tornado, tornadoes
Notre Dame #AtoZChallenge #WATWB
Morning brought shock, sadness, but a glimmer of hope. The two bell towers still stood.
a2zchallenge2019, atozchallenge2019, bees, catholic, easter, faith, holy week, notre dame, watwb
Generosity and Thankfulness, Op-Ed
Mindful #AtoZChallenge #WATWB #BeKind
Let’s light our own inner light of kindness by opening our eyes to the “fuel” for our lamps – the blessings we receive, the kindnesses of others – and promise to help keep each other’s torches lit when it seems we’re surrounded by the creeping darkness of hate and negativity.”
a2zchallenge2019, atozchallenge2019, aware, grace, kind, mindful, oath, promise, thankful
Lovely #AtoZChallenge #WATWB
Here’s how one Texas art teacher encouraged her young students, ages 3 to 11, to express their creativity.
Killin’ It! #AtoZChallenge
The (hap)hazards of modern time management, and little known lexicographical news!
