Spam and Other Ways to Spend Your Free Time

With the season officially over here in Chautauqua, NY, I find I have more time on my hands now. So, of course I started looking for ways to spend it. And I remembered….my spam folder. Are you getting more spam than usual these days? Do you suppose the spammers are increasingly desperate, or do they…

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Northern Exposure?

Northern Exposure instead of Southern? Yep, this is packing week for our trip north. I’ll blog again once I’ve settled in. But I’m really looking forward to seeing family and friends, including the Brainstormers, who will visit for a few days in June. Here’s a friendly reminder from a sign that I enjoy around the…

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That Was The Year That Was–And Is

I can’t seem to write 2021. Every time I’m asked for a date, I find myself thinking this is 2012. I always catch myself, but this anomaly doesn’t really surprise me. I’m sure it’s not as much a desire to time travel back nine years as it is to pretend this past year didn’t happen.…

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What Have I Learned About Myself Right Now?

Have you heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator? Many of you have both heard about this personality inventory that helps individuals learn where they fit in the psychological types described by Carl Jung. If you go to the link I just provided you’ll get a great overview. There are sixteen personality types, and unlike some…

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Helping At A Difficult Time

Are you feeling useless and powerless? Welcome to our club. You have lots of company because we have endless numbers of members. We’re not a bit exclusive. There are no initiation rites, and no need to sign up. We’re all in this together, simply because we’re human. And you know, no matter how much we…

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You Are Not Alone. Nightmares and the Pandemic.

I’ve noticed an upswing in nightmares since I began to shelter in place in March when the pandemic became a fact of life. Have you? These days waking hours at our house are fairly ordinary, because let’s face it, novelists don’t get out much anyway. We work at home, and in my case, Proman does…

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How is it with thy spirit?

How is it with thy spirit? Many of the churches in the denomination I belong to hold small meetings called covenant groups. We always start with a check-in, often with that question. Not just how are you, or how was your week, but how is it with thy spirit? How is your spirit holding up/on…

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Face Masks? Something to Consider, Something to Make

Today’s post has only one thing to do with writing. These days I’m spending my mornings making face masks and not wrestling with my book in progress all day long. That was the writing part. You almost missed it. Why Face Masks? Do they make sense? Weeks ago when I heard that quilters were making…

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Life Hacks: Make Reading More Fun

Do you ever find yourself on an organizing spree? My confession: I rarely organize. I straighten and I clean when necessary. When piles in my study are taller than I am, or when I can no longer navigate the route to the love seat only three feet away, I know it’s time to clean and…

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Favorite Moments of My Summer and Fall

It’s that time of year. We’re packing to move back to Florida. I’ll confess it’s time to leave. Chautauqua Institution, which hosts thousands during the summer but now, empty and silent, reminds me of that sad moment when you realize the party is over, the guests have departed, and you’ve been left alone to set…

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