Wordsmatter

Words matter or word smatter? You decide.

The Story

Did I ever tell you about the time my brother gave his car away? I mean, technically someone stole it, but honestly, he might as well have given it away. Wait till you hear this… For more than thirty years, that was the opener to my best party story. I pulled out The...

I haven’t forgotten

Live in peace. React in love. Help whenever you can. Let’s use 9/11 to make us better. We can’t afford to sacrifice our humanity for the sake of our existence. 

Collateral damage

[Warning: this post is way more polite than it deserves to be.] What a mess. What an absolute effing mess. I was horrified when I first heard what had happened in Uvalde. All those children! The horror continued to renew itself as details of the situation emerged,...

Regifting

At every life event, good or bad, my people show up. It may not be everyone each time and it may not look exactly as I imagined, but someone is there. In fact, it's usually a whole lot of people. Some are family, some are friends, but at this point, those lines are...

The power of belief

Several weeks ago I undertook a writing project outside my comfort zone. Truthfully, it didn't amount to much, but it involved my own content--not something I had written on behalf of someone else--and it made me feel vulnerable. I was nervous and unsure, but...
E pluribus unum

E pluribus unum

I'm ticked off. Every day, I see people flying American flags, holding them high as a symbol of solidarity toward a particular cause. The problem is, the flag is supposed to represent an entire country, not one segment of it. I grew up proud to be an American. I still...

Shame and grace

Shame and grace

Why do we look down on people trying to get better? I sense this attitude all around me, and truth be told, I'm not immune to it. We all do it sometimes, and it should be to our shame. If you don't believe me, turn on your TV. You'll find shows such as My 600-lb....

Cooking lessons

Cooking lessons

A friend came to my house for lunch a few weeks ago. She had just celebrated a birthday, so cake for dessert seemed in order. The recipe I chose looked terrific: a single layer of lemon sponge soaked in a sticky lemon glaze. Lots of fresh lemons would sacrifice...

Never say never

Never say never

Names matter to people, particularly their own. As someone with a name that is commonly misspelled, I'm particularly sensitive to this. Not only are there several variations of Tammy (Tami, Tammi, Tammie, Tamie), but people also want to argue with me about what my...

Stuck

Stuck

My dog is special. Since the day we brought him home, Wallace has marched to the beat of his own drum. You might not notice it if you visit him inside our house, though. That's his happy place; he can relax there and be normal. Mostly. Outside is a different story....

But what if I fly?

When I was a kid and my dad wanted me to try a new sport, I resisted. I had a million reasons, but my dad believed only one. You don't want to try anything you don't think you're going to be good at. As much as I protested, deep down I knew he was right. The...

Swan song

My friend is overloaded at work and constantly frazzled. Though he works long hours and through many weekends, it's never enough to catch up. There's always another task, and usually it's urgent. To make matters worse, he's experiencing some attrition in his staff, so...

Buzz-fed

I clicked on a Buzzfeed story that popped up in my newsfeed the other day: 18 Privileges That Many People Don't Even Recognize. Using my iPhone. Inside the home I own. Sitting on furniture that matches the room around it. With a satisfied stomach. On a weekend day...

Trash talk

My city currently finds itself in the midst of a garbage crisis. An unfortunate and mostly preventable series of events has led to increasingly terrible service over the past four years, and now when I put my bins at the curb, I wonder how long they'll stay there....

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