This is what you can do when I'm so depressed that I sit there like a zombie and stare into space or can't stop crying. This might not apply to anyone else, but it's good for me. 1. Give me your full attention. 2. Say nothing. Just sit there in silence even if it's...
Do you know someone who needs a lesson on how to give a true apology? We hear a lot of false ones in public life. Here's how to say "I'm sorry" properly.
Today's post is a straight rant. Feel free to stop reading if you're one of those "look on the bright side" people. I'm currently feeling exasperated with the way too many of my American friends and colleagues often receive a text or email and don't respond to it...
I'm very grateful to my friends. I had a bout of depression in the past week and they responded in just the right ways. They asked how they could help and offered to talk, but they didn't give me a pep talk or keep asking why I was depressed. They just let me know...
(Again, I'm blogging on an app, so if the text goes wonky in spots. Sorry.) In the article How to Avoid Dying Alone With No One To Claim Your Body, Jezebel's Tracy Moore describes the increasing problem of dead bodies with no one to claim them and people whose death...
I have friends that I mainly connect with through email. Sometimes one of these long distance friends will go a long time in between emails. After I've emailed a few times with no response, I call. Sometimes that doesn't get a response either. I once sent a regular...
Several months ago National Public Radio did a story on how divided our country has become socially and politically. The story described the way Americans lived in centuries past: more towns where rich and poor attended the same church, more daily interaction between...
After decades of working through depression, personal issues and unhealthy relationships -- with people and with food -- I feel like I've come out on the other end. (See my previous post for one version of a summary of those years.) Now most days I'm in a remarkably...
It's party season, so let's get ready! I love having people over, an option that makes increasing sense as we all whittle down our entertainment budgets and try to stay close to home. Maybe you're thinking, "How does that save costs if I'm providing food and drink for...
Let's say your name is Chris and you have a friend named Rita. Let's say you see her right outside of your usual coffee shop, while she's carrying her latte out and you’re on your way in for your morning pick-me-up. You say, "Rita, what's up?" She steps out of the way...
Previous post on fatness. Disclaimer: since I've become properly obese, I re-read these old posts and see my body dysmorphia and obsession with food and weight. It's sad to me now. People think this is a nice thing to say and I'm sure it is for most people. I'm sure...
Yesterday my friend Gina (the one who gave me the great advice on the wedding I'm going to) had a graduation party. Gina, congratulations on joining the ranks of the masters degree holders (ahem). I enjoyed making her graduation cake. She likes different kinds of...
How many people reading this have been the ex-girlfriend, attending the wedding of a former boyfriend? How often does it happen and how much time usually goes by between the end of the former relationship and the wedding? In this case, 18 years. Yes, we kept in touch...
I am grateful for my hard-won friends. It hasn't been easy to build such a strong network. Making friends gets harder as one gets older, plus many of us have had to figure out how to be a good friend through trial and error. I think my parents were part of a...
I am not a vegetarian. I have never been a vegetarian. I have been friends with vegetarians, lived among them and even dated them, but I have never, ever joined them in their meatless way of eating. Yet people think I am one. Friends who have known me for years, who...