Force of Habit

Yes, I have a Facebook page. Call it cultural anthropology but it's an interesting place to hang out, swinging as it does between highbrow (a group supporting books in print) and lowbrow (a campaign to dump your friends for a free burger at Burger King). After a fast start in a  college dorm it's a world-wide phenomena available to both the young and the young at heart, which is to say we baby-boomers who just have to get in on everything. I've connected with a number of writer friends I like and admire, I located a college roommate and an old boyfriend, and I ... Read Full Story

Enough with the politics. ‘Tis the season and all that. I’ve been intermittently watching morning shows while engaged in the difficult task of book rewrites and have all sorts of ideas about what to bring to a holiday party, what to wear, what to make, what to gift, where to find bargains and how to survive without gaining weight, losing your mind or forsaking family and friends. This year seems especially stressful, what with the economy so low, our hopes so high and our expectations veering from high to low and back again. Then again, unless you were once the recipient of lavish year-end ... Read Full Story

My father, who was a fan of recitation, frequently used the phrase from an ancient Persian proverb , “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet” to remind us about gratitude and, I think to keep us aware of perspective. Perspective – the ability to step back, take the long view, see the big picture – is, to my way of thinking, one of life’s great coping tools. I’m amazed at how difficult a concept it is for most of us to grasp. Perspective: I have pain in my hip and lower back caused by disappearing ... Read Full Story

My mom used to tell me there were glass half full kinds of people and glass half empty kinds of people but sometimes it seems out of our control. You get the good news from your doctor, followed by the no-so-good news from your employer. You connect up with one friend and inadvertently start a fight with another. The sun comes out, you walk outside and the skies open up, drenching you in a downpour. You have good days and bad days. It seems as if the cosmos gets to decide just how full the glass is, not us. This month has been particularly ... Read Full Story

The big news out of the polling world concerns the second installment of the three-part survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life . In the first part, released earlier this year, more than 80 percent of all Americans identified themselves as affiliated with one faith or another, principally Christianity. This new survey illustrates that these Americans are willing to concede that their religion may not be the only way to salvation and further, that there may be more than one way to interpret the teachings of their own religion. It should also be pointed out that more than half of those affiliated with a faith favor preserving religious ... Read Full Story