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...
Watching the Cubs game, or not
I'm impressed by people who will be able to watch tonight's Cubs game. I can't do it; the Cubs are just too much an emotional drain for me. Back in the 1980s I witnessed my then-boyfriend reacting to a Cubs' loss from his campus in Michigan: he said he had a sick...
Happy National Boss’s Day
For those of us who have never managed others, Boss's Day feels like an unnecessary holiday because don't those people have the advantage every day? They're already the boss of us, what other perks do they need? I realize this is unsympathetic because from talking to...
Cubs in the World Series 2015?
To get into the spirit with the rest of the Chicago northside, and because I don't drink alcohol, I'm making this big statement. I hope I'm not setting myself up for a hangover...
Cue Miracle Music: Menstrual Pain Has Decreased
I'm amazed to blog this, but after a year of struggling with horrific cramping, today is day two of my period and I'm not in agony! Four ibuprofen every 3-4 hours has kept me comfortable, as in PAIN-FREE. Oh, my god. I'm so, so grateful. I can hardly believe it. I'd...
Defense Against Multiple Assailants
Most sexual assault (93%) is committed by a single criminal, but in case you want to be ready for multiple attackers, here's the self defense course for you. IMPACT Defense Against Multiple Assailants October 17 & 18 (Sat/Sun 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) Knapp Center...
Gun Control: The Rivera Proposal
Of course I'm upset about the slaughter at [insert most recent event here], but I don't even bother to blog anymore about mass shootings because there's nothing new to say. After each incident people offer "thoughts and prayers," gun control advocates and gun lovers...
The Halloween Whopper
This was just too ridiculous for me to ignore. First, I LOVE Halloween and foods that are black, like jelly beans and olives. Second, I still like hamburgers, even though I now eat them without the bun. Third, the idea of a scary hamburger made me laugh out loud. A...
Wheat Is the Culprit
Previous post on weight & health: Physical vs. emotional Last November I cut grains, sugar, dairy and caffeine out of my diet. That means that on most days of the week I didn't indulge in any of those things, but periodically I had each of them in turn as the...
Sick of Summer
I've had enough of this Chicago warmth. I want the cicadas and crickets to shut up, the humidity to go away and the clouds to roll in. It's so BRIGHT all the time...come on, we're at the end of September now. I need darkness and it's time for autumn.