My comedy barbershop quartet, Lilac Crazy, has been singing and entertaining audiences for almost two decades. We chose the quartet name, not because we’re crazy about the color lilac, but because…we LIE like crazy. (We also sing a lot of funny songs and parodies about men…who lie like crazy.)
Every couple of years we go on a retreat…..
One of my favorite Yuletide songs, but one you don’t hear often, is from Scrooge, the Musical––”December the 25th.” Here’s the first verse:
“Of all the days in all the year that I’m familiar with, there’s only one that’s really fun––December the 25th. Ask anyone called Robinson (or Brown or Jones or Smith) their favorite day and they will say––December the…..
My growing-up years were spent in a sleepy little town in southern Indiana. My entire world was contained in just a few square miles. I was surrounded by my entire family–maternal and paternal grandparents, multiple aunts and uncles, twenty-three first cousins and several “kissin’ cousins.” In the rural setting of my youth, “kissin’ cousins” were far enough removed on the family tree that they could marry without fear of producing idiot children.
I can still hear my grandfather saying,…..
Do you ever have difficulty getting along with someone in your acquaintance? Is there someone you know who treats you like you’re covered in filth, despite all your attempts to get a positive response? Do you ever say to yourself, “I wish he/she/it was not in my life?”
Obviously, I’m thinking about such a person at this very moment. (Perhaps you are, too, now that I’ve brought up the subject.) Because I have a Ph.D. in behavioral science, I automatically…..
(Note: This blog isn’t about writing or publishing, but it is about “seeing yourself as others see you,” which is probably good advice for anyone who hopes to succeed in any venue.)
First, a little backstory: I have always hated the idea of being cut open. That’s why I resist surgery proposed by any doctor––no matter how good she is or how much I trust him. I remember putting off my hysterectomy until the fibroid tumor was as big as…..
At my age, I don’t expect to get smiles or even friendly greetings from handsome young men who cross my path. And I don’t think I ever received whistles, even long before menopause. But a very unusual thing happened yesterday, and I’ve spent some time trying to understand the significance of the exchange.
I was standing at the gas pump at Sam’s Club, waiting for my big old Buick to lap up enough fuel to last for the week. At…..
I received a call last week from a gal who lives here in my retirement community. I used to sing with her in an ensemble that entertained annually in our community “Follies,” an amateur talent show I helped to initiate seventeen years ago. As singers, we weren’t that great, but we had a wonderful time together and were welcome entertainers at local church dinners and nursing homes.
In the September/October issue of the Purdue Alumnus magazine, I read a profile of Emily Smith, a Purdue graduate who is Chief of Staff for Family Planning 2020, a global partnership hosted by the United Nations. This group supports the rights of women around the world to decide for themselves whether, when, and how many children they want to have.
Ms. Smith is the product of a family with long associations with Purdue University, which happens to be the school…..
One of my favorite musicals has always been the film, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (MGM, 1954). Not only is the music perfect, but also the dancing is spectacular and the mountain scenery is breathtaking. Although each brother is different (in looks, temperament, and talent), his objective is singular––find a girl to love and make her his bride.
A little over three years ago, seven of us writers, who call ourselves L. S. McFan (an anagram of our initials), decided…..
(NOTE: I posted this in May (I thought) but it doesn’t show up on my blog, for some reason, so here it is again.)
A friend of mine, let’s call her Omi, was seduced by the ads that promised she’d never have to break her back mopping or sweeping or vacuuming her floors…ever again. So, she bought one of those miracle laborsaving devices–a small, round robotic electric sweeper/vacuum that would clean her floors better than a mop and pail…or a…..
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