Crazy cat ladies and mad cows

Over the summer, I celebrated my birthday with a single cupcake and a can of tuna for my two cats. Shortly thereafter I read an article about how crazy cat ladies have a higher risk of suicide. After wondering if my tax dollars paid for that study, I became slightly alarmed. Does a person know

Sad Things I Wish I Never Knew

I encountered a concept today that I can’t get out of my mind — children’s hospice. I know that hospice exists; I’ve seen someone go. I know that children get sick; I wrote a book about it. Yet, in my mind, those two saddest thoughts never met until today, when I ran across a website

The Beauty of Bridges

I don’t love heights, but I love bridges. To me, the middle of a bridge is the most beautiful spot in the world, literally and figuratively. Because bridges aren’t just for getting from one place to the next; they provide a vantage point to see both where you were and where you are going —

Premonitions and Global Consciousness

  I don’t know what to say about Nostradamus or the Farmer’s Almanac, but I think there is too much evidence to dismiss that some people – maybe all people – have some consciousness of events that are likely to happen. It’s really not that much of a stretch to believe. Economists and meteorologists and other

Neurobics

I love looking through photo albums, but I always keep out a few pictures and let them lie in random drawers and piles and nooks. Because every once in a while, I’ll be looking for something – usually in a tizzy about my lack of organization  – and I’ll run across a picture of someone

The Secrets of Sniffing

On the way up to my apartment this evening, a little tan cocker spaniel came barrelling and jingling down the staircase to sniff me all over. There was that minute of suspense when I wondered whether he would like what he smelled or bite my finger off. Fortunately it was the former, and he slobbered

Etymology and bats

 I wondered today about the origin of the term, “fired” (a.k.a. laid off). So I looked it up, and according to an online eytmology dictionary , it is a play on the word “discharge” which means both to dismiss from a job and to fire a gun. In my brief search of the Internet, I found a

Do You?

 What is it that 95% of people say they do, but only 67% actually do?  Hints: – It can be done in the length of time it takes to hum the chorus of your favorite song. – A friend of mine used to warn me about guys who didn’t do it at swing dances.  –

Laughter Yoga

I learned a new word today: gelotology, the study of laughter. I think I’ve found a new career. Several years ago, I ran across a phone listing for a Miss Goodness who lived on Happy Town Road, and I so wanted to be her. I bet she’s a gelotologist.   Laughter is like an apple to