2020 is the Year of the Introvert

https://psiloveyou.xyz/2020-is-officially-the-year-of-the-i… Here’s a few points about caring for the Introverts in your life, especially during quarantine times when Extroverts are bored and restless. I’ll speak for my group: A. We didn’t ask for...
Whole Foods is now Few Foods

Whole Foods is now Few Foods

There’s two types of apocalyptic shoppers at Whole Foods 1. Crawls into the freezer, past the sign that says “only 2 per customer” to grab 6 boxes 2. At the meat section, asks about the last remaining piece of meat, “Is it...

Day dreams, at night

Tonight I’d like to be in northern Vietnam, riding a burnt-orange Moped, listening to Jamiroquai, and repeating the Spanish word for microwave (microondas).

Attn readers:

You can now pre-order my book, “The Grass Is Always Greener When It’s Not Covered In This G-Damned Snow”, anywhere that unfinished projects are sold. MSRP $35
When you need to check in with gorgeousness

When you need to check in with gorgeousness

but you’re stuck in Illinois, head to Wilmette, for the most beautiful building in the entire Western hemisphere The Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette is an intricate concrete masterpiece with thoughtful details that reflect oneness for humanity....

Golden Girls

You know you’re getting old when you go to a party and everyone brings their slippers — I’m lucky to have old friends to grow even older with

If I should die

with my “song still in my heart” or words left unsaid or books left unread, I could live with that. But if I died with frequent flyer miles unused, I would puke.

When is Halloween?

Overheard this conversation between a mom and daughter in a store…Daughter: “Can you believe they already have Halloween stuff out?”Mom: “Halloween is right around the corner”Daughter (excited): “Oh, good, I can get my costume...

that time it was so hot

It was so hot in Chicago that the fire department needed to hose down the Michigan Avenue Bridge after the steel expanded, reducing clearance for boats. https://abcn.ws/2yWsa9X

the rain in the summertime

Almost 48 hours without rain and now, back to your regularly scheduled deluge and flooding. The upswing: Illinois homeowners who wanted waterfront property, you probably have it by now
Not the sharpest knifes in the drawer

Not the sharpest knifes in the drawer

I found this sign in the kitchen of the company where I managed to snag a writing job… [“Also too”] The IT team has a sign that lists the surveillance software used as “Blue Irish”. I asked, “Should that be “Iris”, like...

October 32nd

I’ve just received an email request to interview for an Editor position on October 32nd. I think I can help them.

The Hair Apparent

​If you don’t believe that one person can make a difference in your life, just be on the receiving end of a bad haircut. You’ll...

Blonde jokes

The good thing about being blonde is that I don’t get gray hairs, I get platinum highlights. That makes up for all the jokes I don’t understand.

Tea is a surprisingly popular beverage

that looks like urine and tastes like sh*t. I know it’s good for me so I’m trying to drink it, with my mouth, but it tastes terrible and gives me a stomach ache. I doubt that it’s health benefits overweigh the torture.

a short cut

The easiest way to become fully present in the here & now is to smash your bare foot into heavy furniture

What if…?

He: “I’m not the type to answer hypothetical questions.” Me: “But what if you were?”

A Date to Remember (?)

Farnborough, UK If half the fun of my travels comes from walking around taking photos, another half comes from buying jewelry, and the final half comes from learning how much I don’t know. At a recent house/pet sit in England, the homeowner showed me the locked...
A Curious Deal in the UK

A Curious Deal in the UK

Canterbury, Kent, UK After 12 weeks in Germany, where I didn’t understand much of anything, I’m relieved to be back in a country where I speak the language. but I don’t understand the promotion: Do you get a free bus with the purchase of 13...
Lawn mower racing as a metaphor for life

Lawn mower racing as a metaphor for life

Jo Daviess county is a place where dreams come true – you just never know which dreams. I went to the Apple River Mowtor Speedway as a spectator and left a racer. All my years of mowing the lots at Apple Canyon Lake had finally paid off! I had showed up as a poorly...
Whether it’s the weather

Whether it’s the weather

I blame everything on the cold weather or on global warming. It’s complicated. But in the Chicago area, the weather is usually way too hot (and humid), or way to cold (and windy). There are about seven days a year when the weather is perfect – 72 degrees with low...

My retirement plan is a jetpack crash

I want to live to age 106, but can afford to make it only to about 58. By then, jetpacks should have been invented, and been commercialized enough that CostCo sells them, online, at a good price. I’ll buy one, and learn how to use it only enough to fly really high and...

Chicago has a lot of nerve charging people to live here

The taxes are high, the streets are overly crowded and in bad repair, and the weather stinks. I’m not long for this zip code. I’m going move to where the weather suits my clothes. Or, better yet, my hair. I can always buy new clothes, but I cannot seem to change my...
Running with the King

Running with the King

Ok, so I didn’t run with Dean Karnazes but I got to meet him at the race expo where we showed off our matching Road ID bracelets and that was cool enough

white cheddar popcorn

White cheddar popcorn doesn’t go quietly. You’d think, by looking at it, that it’d be all nice, mild mannered, and complacent. Definitely easy going, maybe a pushover. But it is not. If an arresting detective said to white cheddar popcorn, “We can do this the hard...

She said what?!?

I love the film “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and know that writers take creative liberties but I call foul when the mother says, “I know I have no right to judge…” because those words have NEVER come out of a mother’s mouth, ever....

Going to hell in a bread basket

  The USA has only one day to honor our veterans but an entire National Bread Month. This is a reflection of the priorities of our great nation, and I am a product of this nation, the culture, and those priorities. I know more about bread types than battles...

“Guatemala Tripping”

 or, “Love in the Time of Insomnia”, or, “Why I Can’t be a Travel Guide, part 87” Everyone is Guatemala is at least a foot shorter than me. I’ve looked down on hats and hair; I’ve looked at dandruff from both sides now. During the entire two weeks of intensive Spanish...

Do dream jobs exist?

I hate when a website security question is “What is your dream job?” They don’t accept “None” as as answer and I can never remember what fake answer I had given.  

Engagement vs. Marriage

An engagement is like a piercing, and a marriage is like a tattoo. To end an engagement or piercing, you just remove the jewelry. To get rid of a marriage or a tattoo takes time, money, and sometimes lasers.

Back-to-school traffic

added to summer construction lane closures has actually made my commute to work easier; Now I don’t even have to bother using the accelerator pedal.

Going to hell in a bread basket

Nov 11 The USA has only one day to honor our veterans but an entire month to celebrate bread: October is National Bread Month. This is a reflection of the priorities of our great nation, and I am a product of this nation, the culture, and those priorities. I know more...

Why do toasters even have a “burnt” setting?

The best toast is light-to-medium dark, when the bread gets a little crispy, a little crunchy, a lot warmer, but still pliable and bready. That’s why you’re eating bread, and that’s why you’re toasting it – you want toasted bread, not burnt bread dust. Anyone who...

the thing about Autumn

I love the leaves in autumn: the way they change colors, the patterns they make on the ground, and when they’ve fallen off the trees, it’s easier to peep into peoples’ homes at night.

A good stretch of the legs

I’m planning a 12-month walk across the United States, and then other countries, to raise awareness of people who hate working in offices. I will complete this walk annually.  
Finally back in Playa Flamingo, CR

Finally back in Playa Flamingo, CR

Hola mi amiga, thanks for the note, the concern, and the offer to send money. I won’t need it for a while, my luck changed as soon as I left god-forsaken San Jose. I have an even worse story of what happened on Thursday night, it was an absolute nightmare but I...

Why must a job applicant

take a drug test when a welfare recipient does not: You want money for not working? Sure, who doesn’t? You actually want a full-time job? Are you high on drugs?

I’m ahead this time

Today we set our clocks ahead; most people lose an hour. I usually keep my clocks six minutes ahead anyway, so I lose only 54 minutes.

Now matter how good

your life’s circumstances, there are plenty of people whose lives are better. And now matter how bad your life’s circumstances, there are plenty of people who don’t care to hear about it.

Cat-like

I don’t live on the edge, but I seem to place most of my breakable items there.

Livin’ Large in the USA

A recent Gallup poll (2009) shows that 63.1% of adults in the USA are overweight. That means that nearly 40% of adults are missing out on the biggest trend in America. Sure, becoming overweight is not easy. If it were easy then every ‘body’ would be fat...

Cleaning up

I can get more house cleaning done while procrastinating a gym workout, than I could if I set out to clean the house.

Dreams of Lenny Kravitz

I want to be in a movie with Lenny Kravitz, in a cordoned off section of China’s Great Wall, where many people are trying to jump rope. After he says, “This surface is uneven.” I’ll say my only line, “Very uneven.” And I’ll...
Advice for CR Travel

Advice for CR Travel

Thanks for advice, I’ll be back with dentist today and found some part-time relief via “Red Cross Toothache Kit” which includes a liquid salve similar to turpentine. I am desperate for pain relief. As for Costa Rica, my experience there were many...
Hello from Puerto Montt

Hello from Puerto Montt

Hello all, Guy and I have just landed in Puerto Montt. I should say that we have just arrived because we came by bus. It was an overnight trip on a “bed bus” with wide, reclining seats. We slept 10.5 of the 12 hours. I am just getting over a cold and...

En route to Mendoza, Argentina

Woke up three minutes before alarm, remembered what I was doing/going and jumped out of bed. Drove to apt., picked up UPS package which I would have to return. It was supposed to arrive more than one week ago. Drove to Jill’s where I left my car, she and I talked our...
Sawasdee from Koh Samui

Sawasdee from Koh Samui

Sawasdee is an all-encompassing greeting, saluation and more, similar to Hawaii’s “aloha”, so if we could just figure out how to pronounce it correctly, we would be well-covered verbally. Last night, one of my new Thai friends gave us a Thai to...
Tickling and Trekking through Nepal

Tickling and Trekking through Nepal

Day 15 of 17, trekking on the Khumbu trail up to and back down from Everest Base Camp Apparently, the Nepali people have never been tickled, or not tickled properly. My trekking partner and I have made ourselves unofficial Tickle Ambassadors to the local people,...
Full Moon in Costa Rica and a Wide Awake Nightmare

Full Moon in Costa Rica and a Wide Awake Nightmare

Hola everybody, Thanks for putting up with my cranky mood and the negative sound of my last email. Things were not going as I am used to here and actually were not going well at all. I did get to be voluntarily bumped in Houston, Texas, where I imagined and looked...

Men are Stupid, Women are Crazy

A street-wise, over-generalized look at the two genders and the millions of differences We are all connected, we are all equal, we are all made from one source. That being said, men are stupid and women are crazy. Women getting ready to go out must prepare in reverse...

How to Make Time Stand Still

or, Another Job that Sucks I started a new job today. Even before I left home this morning, I knew that I had made a terrible mistake. I knew it yesterday when I tried to think of ways to avoid it or alternatives. I had always tried to believed, “life’s what you make...