Category Archives: current events/themes

Can you love yourself too much? Ask Narcissus.

Posted on May 21, 2015 by stillalife

Remember Narcissus? In Greek mythology, he fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water, and died when he found he couldn’t grasp it. In the course of looking for trends in naming children (my last blog), I … Continue reading →

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What’s your brand?

Posted on December 22, 2013 by stillalife

Are you Bar S or a Flying D? This is an important questions to ask yourself as you go about the apparently essential life venture of self-branding. It’s not enough that you are intelligent, kind to all living creatures and … Continue reading →

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Why some of us are susceptible to scams

Posted on April 16, 2013 by stillalife

Can you read people’s faces well enough to know whom to trust?  New research says that the older we get, many of us can’t. When my mother was about eighty, she called to say, “You won’t have to worry about me … Continue reading →

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The secret of happiness?

Posted on April 7, 2013 by stillalife

What is the secret of happiness? A recent issue of the newsletter Brain Pickings offers three answers to this question from the book, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Dr. Martin Seligman. He says the secret lies in: … Continue reading →

Posted in current events/themes, health | 1 Comment

Goodbye Dragon, Hello Snake

Posted on January 7, 2013 by stillalife

Goodbye Dragon, Hello Snake.  When everyone at the New Year’s Eve party was  clinking their Champagne glasses to toast the new year, more than one person expressed hope that their 2013 would be an improvement over 2012, the Year of … Continue reading →

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My 2013 resolution: make no resolutions

Posted on January 4, 2013 by stillalife

Four days into the new year, how many of you have stuck to the resolutions you made on January 1?  I made an insignificant one on December 29 and broke it January 1, which is why I now proclaim 2013 … Continue reading →

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Seasonal favorites and not-so-favorites

Posted on December 21, 2012 by stillalife

A friend suggested I write a blog about my least favorite holiday experiences from my working days in school administration, things that I no longer have to put up with now that I’m retired — sort of a reverse Julie … Continue reading →

Posted in current events/themes, seasons | 1 Comment

War and politics

Posted on November 15, 2012 by stillalife

It’s getting harder to distinguish politics from war. Participants in both talk about campaigns, battlegrounds, and victors. I imagine that those candidates who are complaining they lost because their national parties didn’t send money consider themselves collateral damage. A week … Continue reading →

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Reflections on gratitude

Posted on October 31, 2012 by stillalife

“Use the supports available to you.” This quote came from my instructor in a movement class called Feldenkrais.  The supports she was referring to included the ground, our hips, our shoulders and other body parts that help us roll over, … Continue reading →

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Black cats and good luck charms

Posted on October 29, 2012 by stillalife

If you go out on Halloween night will you avoid black cats? Stay away from streets with the number 13 in them?  Avoid walking on a crack for fear you’ll break your mother’s back?  Yesterday, in the course of looking … Continue reading →

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