They Played Us Like a Cheap Recording
Demonstrators link hands in downtown Chicago last night. Jim Young - Reuters I'm so irritated today. Last night, while I was standing in Millennium Park with a bunch of families and grown-up Christmas goofs (like me), demonstrators were organizing south of...
Lies about Thanksgiving
My fellow Americans, the nice story about Thanksgiving starting with the first white settlers in North America inviting the American Indians to celebrate the harvest isn't strictly true. In fact, the white people and the native people were probaby at war a lot of the...
How to Tip a Bartender
Most Americans know the proper amount to tip on a restaurant food bill. It's 20% and anything less looks cheap and mean. That's because service industry workers in the U.S. are paid about $2.18 to $5 an hour from their employers and that's it. That's right: American...
Merry F@#$%^! Christmas, Macy’s
I haven't used my Macy's card since November 2014 because that's when I became disgusted with them for making their employees work on Thanksgiving Day. Last holiday season I vowed never to shop there again and I haven't. But I forgot to cut up my card and close the...
What If I Don’t Feel Bad about France?
While many Americans feel sad for Paris after the attacks of last Saturday (14 Nov 2015), many have a different reaction. Some people, like me, are asking why the U.S. pours out the sympathy for Paris, but not for other places that have suffered bombings that resulted...
Come on, Menopause! Part Two
Last week I got all excited because my period was late and I fantasized that I'd entered menopause and was never going to menstruate again. Anyone who thinks menopause is very uncomfortable and I'm crazy to want it, here are two points: 1. Menstruation with fibroids...
Cuss Words and White Male Privilege
Some call it cussing. Some call it swearing. Some call it using bad words. It's the use of "four-letter words" and it's very controversial. I understand that such words aren't appropriate most of the time, but I'm puzzled by people who think such words are...
Cosmetics for Women of Color. Yes? No?
NPR recently ran a story that started like this, "Women of color have long been ignored by major cosmetics firms, which meant there wasn't a whole lot of choice if you weren't white." I consider myself lucky to have begun my lipstick-wearing days at the end of the...
Come on, Menopause!
My 28-day cycle ended earlier this week. Wednesday should have been day one of my period, but it didn't happen. It still hasn't happened. It's so wonderful to not get my period! Is it possible that I've finally reached menopause? Oh, I hope so. I would love it if I...
How to Squint without Scaring People
Most of my life I went around feeling afraid of many things: friendship, male attention, physical pain, family members, children, people being nice to me, etc. It made sense for me to try to look intimidating and stand-offish, so people would leave me alone. I kept a...
Holidays without Parenting
We Americans grow up with kid-focused holidays such as Halloween and Christmas where everything is for kids: candy, decorations, special clothes, parties and games. Christmas traditions in the U.S. were originally established primarily to celebrate childhood (and make...
Jesus, Cubs Fans…
On Wednesday night, as the Chicago Cubs baseball team struggled with a score of 6-0 with the New York Mets in the lead, I tuned into WGN radio. Matt Bubala was on the microphone at 8:15p, sitting in for the usual host of The Download, and he was halfheartedly covering...