family

Holiday Watch: A Holiday Engagement

This review for A Holiday Engagement almost didn’t get written. Why? Well, that’s what we’re here to talk about. In any form of storytelling, one of the worst thing you can do is…

In Praise of “Switched At Birth”

Some programs grab you right away…at times, even before they air. Switched At Birth was that for me. Still, new programs are a crapshoot. Even if you watch for an actor or a premise, the fact is that you never know what you are going to get until you see it. Now, two episodes in, I have nothing but

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior (WSJ.com)

Like many of us have been saying, it boils down to this: expect excellence and know that regardless of any nascent talent, …

Holiday Watch: An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Following a young woman in this period piece, An Old-Fashioned Christmas, opts to break out of the traditional formula for a holiday film and delivers, instead, a solid story filled with choices, consequences, love, disappointment, greed, and good old-fashioned humanity. The question is: does it deliver on the holiday theme?

A Day For New Beginnings

A full day. A family member’s retirement bash combined with saying good-bye to one of the treasured young women in my life.

The Reality of the American Middle Class’ Decline Since 1970

A lengthy, but important, examination of the adjusted-for-inflation economic reality of what used to be a healthy American middle class. (via Daily …

When In Doubt, Throw Hard Candy (aka, The Santa From Hell story)

This is a story by my friend, Toni McGee Causey (Charmed and Dangerous, Girls Just Wanna Have Guns, When a Man Loves …

9 Silly Things People Say When They Hear You Don’t Want Kids (And Ways to Counter Them)

Wanting kids isn’t just the social norm, it’s said to be a biological imperative. But yet, some of us choose not to …

The Thankful Thing, 2009 Edition

Here we are. What am I thankful for in this past year?

Pie Principles | The Faster Times

I love pie. Don’t each much (it’s a calorie thing), but I love it. via The Faster Times Pie Principles | Eating and …

Steph’s Group Blog – A Perfect Day

My take on this week’s group blog topic: Your Perfect Day. For one day you get to construct what would be the day you’d dream to have IRL.

A Very Good Evening, Indeed

Some people are just like “peas and carrots”. I’m lucky to have a few in my life like that. After a twenty year gap, one of these special people came a visitin’–much to my delight.

A Judgement on the Gay Marriage Thing

You know, I like to think of myself as a fair-minded individual. In the past few years, courts, and now state legislatures, have begun approving of same-sex marriages. Given the numbers of conservative-minded folk in the United States, is it no wonder that there has been a vocal backlash of sorts? I have to say, I’m totally amazed that this is really an issue at all.