Category Archives: personal reflections

From Aerograms to Instagram

Posted on February 27, 2014 by stillalife

Anyone remember ‘pen pals’? The kids your age who lived somewhere else with whom you exchanged letters about your towns, countries and lives, until one or both of you lost interest? My first pen pal was British. I saw her … Continue reading →

Posted in memories, personal reflections, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

A small world for people and cats

Posted on January 28, 2014 by stillalife

Even if scientists have shown it takes more than six steps to connect any two people in the world, experience tells us that the small world factor is often at work. The day after my husband and I adopted our … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, personal reflections | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

I resolve to…

Posted on January 6, 2014 by stillalife

This is the year to forego making New Year’s resolutions to become thin, bring about world peace, or keep one’s house, kids, pets, work and life organized. In fact, if we’re bothering to make New Year’s resolutions — and forty-five … Continue reading →

Posted in personal reflections, seasons | Tagged | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in current events/themes, personal reflections | Tagged | 1 Comment

My own art walk

Posted on September 30, 2013 by stillalife

Cooler fall weather brings out the walker in me, not the exercise walker so much as the get-to-my-appointments-and-errands-walker. In the past few weeks I discovered that things changed over the summer while I was cocooned in my air-conditioned car. On … Continue reading →

Posted in personal reflections, touring town | 1 Comment

Feeling good about being boring

Posted on September 26, 2013 by stillalife

Those of us over fifty can finally feel good about being boring. When reflecting on the past, it’s easy to remember the excitement that accompanied turning points in my life. Starting with kindergarten and going all the way to retirement, … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, changes after retirement, personal reflections | 1 Comment

An apple a day

Posted on September 15, 2013 by stillalife

Most of us realize that we’re not perfectly shaped, featured, or coiffed. And we probably don’t have many friends, relatives, or acquaintances who come across as model-perfect. So why do we expect the fruits and vegetables we buy at the … Continue reading →

Posted in personal reflections, seasons | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Self-awareness or obsession?

Posted on September 2, 2013 by stillalife

I observed my birthday in August. ‘Observed’ as opposed to ‘celebrated.’ I stopped celebrating at sixty. In contrast to the kind of celebrations birthdays dictate at age twenty-one, at a certain point they call for less concern over parties and … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, changes after retirement, personal reflections | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Going where the story takes you

Posted on August 14, 2013 by stillalife

Hear the word “research” and what comes to mind?  Laboratories teeming with pink-eyed rodents? Spreadsheets filled with statistics? Undergraduate student volunteers taking tests to predict how likely they are to do x or y when faced with an impossible choice? … Continue reading →

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Time and tides

Posted on July 23, 2013 by stillalife

In the first line of “Love in the Time of Cholera,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez refers to memories conjured up by the scent of bitter almonds.  The taste of a madeleine cake causes French author Marcel Proust to remember the country home … Continue reading →

Posted in personal reflections | Tagged , , | 2 Comments