Ten things I didn’t do to get Medium to pay me in 2022 — I joined Medium in mid-year 2020. We all know 2020 was a weird year so I figured rather than bake sourdough bread or become an Olympic jigsaw puzzler, I’d write. Seemed like a good plan at the time, and for the most part, still seems like a good plan. The…

Farts are funny, yes or no? — Rumor has it there are two camps of people in the world — the camp that thinks farts are funny and the camp that doesn’t. I was raised in a family that had both covered. My Mom did not allow any of her six children, not even the boys, to…

It’s best to do so in a frenzy — Recently, while strolling through a Macy’s department store with a girlfriend, we got caught up in an unexpected lipstick-buying frenzy. If, like me, you usually buy your lipstick at Walmart, Walgreens, or CVS, lipstick frenzies are a rarity. Here’s what happened. We were heading to the shoe sale racks when…

Only her hairdresser knows for sure. — There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when the question “Does she or doesn’t she?” was an actual question. It was the catchy advertising slogan for Miss Clairol Hair Color, originating in the mid-1950s. …

Motorcycles, campfires, and a beer with Mooney — “Not my thing,” was my standard response when someone mentioned country music to me. How could anyone enjoy all that twang? It seemed to me every country song was about broken hearts, hard-drinking, or hound dogs. I just didn’t get it. So when my husband suggested we attend a motorcycle…

Be careful, it’ll make you crabby — I am suffering from a severe case of project creep. This condition tends to make me crabby. Hubs is not wild about it either. In case you’re not familiar with project creep, it goes like this. During a weak moment, you get bamboozled into what on the surface appears to…

The good and the bad of 20-minute increments — Recently I wrote a piece about how good advice from my glamorous Aunt Vivian helped me quit smoking. My heart warms whenever I think of Aunt Viv wearing her cat-eye glasses and holding her vicious little Chihuahua. That woman saved my life. I know that sounds dramatic, but my best…

Of course, they go together — I’ve been thinking about lessons and insights I’ve picked up throughout my life and the people who’ve helped me along the way. Here’s one of those people: She wore cat-eye glasses and Audrey Hepburn-style dresses with a full skirt, a narrow black belt, and sensible heels. She was one of…