Beth

I was listening to NPR yesterday morning on my drive to work and one of the headlines briefly touched upon had to do with professional wrestling – specifically that girls who tended to watch it were more likely to take it seriously and re-enact what they were seeing. Well, that’s what I got from it,…

My mother has always been the curious sort – the type of person who wants to really understand what’s going on around her. She’s especially interested in people’s motivations. If you’ve spent any time around my Mom you’ve likely been asked, “Why?” “Why did that happen?” “Why did they say that?” “Why did you do…

I’ve been stumbling down memory lane lately thanks to the reunion, recently having lunch with my 4th grade teacher and trying to empty out boxes from the move. A few of the boxes haven’t been cracked open in years. In the process of sifting through the mess tossing Xeroxed pages of Encyclopedia Brittanica entries on…

Every college English professor I ever had would tell the class, “If you make a statement, you need to support that statement with the sentences that follow. You cannot expect the reader to just accept what you’ve said.” Well, I frequently did and still do, which explains why my grades were not always what I’d…

Most members of my family will agree that we will never resemble a Norman Rockwell painting. While we may gather around a table for a major event, you can be certain it took some serious political maneuvering, a lot of diplomacy on the host’s part and probably some major negotiations that likely included phrases such…

I’m actually going to recommend a book instead of sitting around abusing poor Dan Brown. It’s roughly a story about redemption – the character redeeming himself to the readers and to himself. The back drop is Afghanistan prior to the Russian occupation and then returns to Afghanistan months before 9/11. There are few books that…

The only real thing I have on my plate of things to talk about this week seems to be the drivers in my new town. I’ve never seen such a large grouping of people who love a good stop sign like they do. In fact, they like to pull up, park and visually visit with…

I’ve been holding back on a book review, but I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to help myself any longer. I’ve simply got to pick on Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. I should probably put this in the Reviews section, but I think Jonathan would like to distance himself from all things Dan…

There are a lot of phrases that I can’t stand to hear – some are clichés while the others tend to fall under the category of “excuses”. I’m sure I’ll be able to get several entries going on “excuses I can’t stand”, since the list is quite long and I’m never short on vitriol. The…

I’ve always thought naming your car was one step shy of goofy. Sure, my friends have named their cars and I accepted that – even my Mom had a little Datsun named Debbie at one point. I have personally managed to avoid that little tradition with one exception. Once I inherited Debbie, I started referring…