Daughter of mine,
please cease to dine –
you must watch your diet
and be very quiet
For to be plump is no longer considered fair
economics dictates wealth=beauty=thinner than air
I’ll admonish you at the refrigerator
for I am your fat extinguisher
I dream of food
but have not chewed
anything for hours
this, the secret to my powers
Listen to me, my lean baby
can’t you see, I’m happy
follow my suit and you will be
as happy and as thin as me
Chloe liked to hang out with Liz. They swam around the neighborhood on weekends and talked about work, politics, and dating.
They worked at the magazine, “Fish and Trips,” a travel guide for les poisson.
He didn’t mean to be mean
He was just playing when he grabbed you too hard
He’s sorry and you should just move on
He’s not stalking you, that’s your imagination – you need to work out it, both of you
What did you do to make him do that?
What were you wearing?
Why were you alone with him?
He’s just a touchy-feely kind of guy
He does that to everybody
I sat down to work on my Teachers’ National Board Certification.
I got a lot done:
Three loads of laundry, the dishes, my car, and refrigerator are clean, and my dog got a bath.
And now this post.
Ok. Here I go. I’m really going to do it.
I just turned 50 and everyone is asking me how it feels
“amazing, wonderful and miraculous!”
At 27, I got in a horrible car accident (I was on a scooter)
Had I entered the intersection seconds sooner, I would have died
At 34, I gave birth and almost died from blood clotting
I had breast cancer 8 years ago
now I’m cancer-free with a beautiful family and a job I love
My new (and just fired) financial advisor said,
“I won’t say your age out loud”
as if growing older is shameful
as if getting older is bad
Last night, a friend of mine told me
she has a friend who has three months to live (cancer spread)
that woman is a mother and in her thirties
to her, turning 50 would be a miracle
Turning 40…50…60…(70…and on) is a miracle
It should be embraced (!)
Fearing aging is fearing life
Our culture is kind of sick in that way
The good news is,
we don’t have to buy into it
“I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.”
Lauren Bacall
Recently, I (wo)manned a booth at our school’s International Festival. We were making maracas using empty toilet paper rolls, duct tape and (uncooked) beans and rice. Kids of all ages and sizes came to make their maracas.
After just one hour, I realized something: six and seven-year-old girls came up confidently and chose their colors without hesitation. “I want blue! And red! And green!” They taped their rolls, scooped up rice, taped again and smiled radiantly.
Teenage girls, however, hemmed and hawed, wracked with indecision. “Ummmmm. I dunno. I dunno what to choose! Ummmm…” It took them far longer to decide and even after they decided, they second-guessed their decisions and did not seem entirely happy with their results.
What happens to girls?
