We’re going on damn near two weeks of winteresque temps and grey skies, here. Now, that may seem like nothing to write home about for the denizens of, say, the entire state of Oregon, but in ordinarily sunny Sheridan, WY, tempers are running high. I can tell, because the nice old ladies with their crucifixes [...]

She’s a modern heroine, of the kind Truman Capote couldn’t even have imagined. Holly, the aesthete who must forsake her breakfast at Tiffany’s for a clear liquid diet–followed by an entire gallon of GoLYTELY bowel prep for a chaser.
For those out of the colonoscopy loop, GoLYTELY is a nausea-inducing, salty, slightly lemony beverage. The nurses [...]

I will swear up and down to anyone who asks that I am  not a competitive person. Sure, I enter writing contests. But I won’t run foot races–I’d rather keep my exercise to myself.  Strictly as a relaxation. Or so I say.
I’m lying.
It’s happened more times than I can count: I read about an athlete, or [...]

Looks like the American princess has fallen from her pedestal to grace the advertisement of a farm supply store:

There are just too many brilliant metaphors here. Do I prefer the juxtaposition of Barbie to Boot Scrubber? Or the not-so-subtle suggestion offered up by her proximity to duct tape? (Along with leather gloves, of course, to hide your fingerprints.) In a [...]

Yesterday I caught sight of something that stopped me cold:  I saw three African Americans hanging around the local park, behind the soccer fields. My heart leapt with joy. People of color are moving to Wyoming! In groups! Ordinarily, the only time I see non-whites here is in the summer, when hotels hire Caribbean natives to [...]

Logically, I know that Phil Spector’s guilty verdict doesn’t “make up” for OJ’s acquittal.  Emotionally, however, I feel vindicated. To a small degree, at least. The fact that Spector’s jury could deadlock in the first place still amazes me. But at least those ten jurors hung onto their convictions (pun intended). Had they allowed some [...]

I was young when Mickey Rourke came on the scene. As in, pre-pubescent. Later on, when his star was rising, I was an innocent teen (which doesn’t exist any longer, I’m told. Gone the way of lemonade stands and newspaper routs, apparently.) Which goes to say that I have very little pre-boxing experience with the pretty boy [...]

My idea of feminism is pretty passive, these days. It tends to revolve around a few hard-and-fast precepts, such as:
1. My body, my choice.
2. If he hits you, press charges.
3. Stay out of parking garages.
4.  A woman with a skinny waist and big boobs MAY have good genes. It is more likely that she has a good [...]

As it turns out, one day is more than enough time to spend behind the wheel of a Chevy Aveo.
Granted, I’m not gung-ho on rental cars to begin with. It takes me too many highway-swerving minutes to tune the radio, adjust the mirrors, and to decide whether the beams shooting out of the front of  my car [...]

How and why I choose my reading material can be pretty random. In this case, I had a line in my 1978-era novel about gangs, and while editing it I suddenly wasn’t sure when “modern” gangs became active. This query led, as most lazy queries do, to Google and then on to good old Wikipedia. Which led me to an autobiography written by [...]