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International No Diet Day
Get ready for International No Diet Day on Sunday the 6th! How about it? You might wonder if a day of eating everything in sight really better than watching what you eat. I think the day isn't about going off your diet, but about trusting yourself to eat in...
Still an Atheist
This Thursday on the United States' National Day of Prayer, nontheists will have a National Day of Reason and recently Washington D.C. saw the Rally of Reason. Coming out as an atheist is becoming one of the bravest moves an American can make, especially if she's a...
“Everything in Moderation” Is Used Without Moderation!
As my fixation on nutrition continues, I'm becoming more irritated by people talking about moderation. I might say that wheat gives me a stomach ache or that starches cause weight gain or that natural animal fats are actually good for us, and someone will respond with...
“But I Wanted a Table on the Patio.”
(A fictional story, although stuff like this happens all the time.) Bob the restaurant manager checked the weather one more time. It was 8:00 a.m. and while Chicago was tricky, he tried his best to predict the temperatures each day. "Warm and sunny. Great!" Bob said...
Dogs Don’t Need This Stuff
When we first got our dog from the shelter last fall, we took him to the veterinarian. Among other things, I asked if a lean, short-haired dog like Ozzie would need protection from the weather. Should we get him a coat or some shoes? She said no. Dogs don't need...
How was Christmas?
Christmas Eve: Bob worked. I had dinner in Niles at the Omega Restaurant with friends. When I got home, Bob called and said that in the course of his job (in the restaurant industry) he'd been forced into a physical confrontation. Sadly as a result, Bob was in the...
Christmas in Not-Mexico-But-Not-Really-the-US-Either
I just learned that the fence that separates Mexico from the U.S. doesn't actually run along the Mexico-U.S. border. According to a post on The Lookout, a news blog, the Rio Grande forms the natural boundary between the two countries, but because of a treaty with...
My Perfect Christmas
Okay, it's not my perfect Christmas, since I won't spend it with my husband, but it's the next best thing.Bob's working Christmas Day because his restaurant is open every day of the year. I spent Easter and Thanksgiving volunteering with Little Brothers Friends of the...
“Isn’t There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas Is All About?”
[I originally posted this on January 5, 2006. I'm running it again, with slight editing. The title refers to Charlie Brown's plaintive cry as he tries to reconcile his "commercial dog" with the party atmosphere of his play rehearsals and the original nativity story.]...
Singlehood and Marriage Are Getting Better for Women and Worse
It's the article that everyone has blogged about and discussed, and I know I'm about two months late, but I still want to make some notes. If you want a nuanced reading of Kate Bolick's All the Single Ladies, which came out in the November 2011 Atlantic, please go...
A Single Woman’s Thanksgiving
As a woman who didn't marry until 41 and who doesn't live in a state that contains anyone I'm related to, I have experience spending holidays alone. Sometimes I minded, sometimes I didn't. I became very self-reliant and learned to find things to do whether it was...
Stigma Against Black Dogs – Who Knew?
I just read this article online: Black Dogs Face a Hard Choice at Shelter. It discusses how shelter dogs that happen to be black (at least in the U.S.) have a really hard time getting adopted because so many people don't want a "BBD" or big black dog. Guesses for this...
Hamsters vs. Dogs
Bob stood in the kitchen, getting a drink of water. Ozzie stood in the kitchen, staring at him. Me: So you don't mind him staring at you right now? Bob: Nope. You know why? Me: Why? Bob: Because he's a dog and that's what dogs do. Me: You know what doesn't stare at...
A Fun New Way to Look at a 1992 Thriller
I recently watched a film that I should have seen decades ago: Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female, which came out in 1992. It was one of those movies that featured a woman who becomes increasingly unstable and dangerous, in the tradition of...