In Minnesota, as in other states, the Republican party is making their final push for votes. Normally there would be nothing unusual about that, but this has been a particularly grueling election season, and the 11th hour pleas from the Republican party are reeking of flop sweat and desperation.
As a registered Democrat, this is [...]

Eileen F. had an idyllic middle-class upbringing.  Reared by two loving parents, both professionals in their fields, she attended Ivy League schools and went on to become a teacher.  Now 58 years old and partially disabled, Eileen struggles to pay the $700 per month rent on her small cabin in upstate New York.  [...]

INTRODUCTION
We live in a world of instant everything. Every human situation, it seems, comes attached with cliches, platitudes, bromides, stereotypes and parodies. There is, conceivably, a box to place every person in, and a label to slap them with. There are also socially created barriers that inform perception, determine response, and decide [...]

I’ve studiously avoided the topic of politics since my feckless peers threw Hillary Clinton out with the bath water.   I’ve bitten my tongue against denigrating phrases like “the bubba factor” to describe the working class.  I’ve sat on my hands to prevent myself from writing diatribes against poisonous but persistent Republicans, and vaporous, elitist liberals.
I’ve [...]

In ancient Italy, extracts of belladonna were used by women in the form of cosmetic eye drops, which dilated their pupils and gave their eyes a bright, glistening appearance. Large pupils were thought to be a sign of feminine beauty, hence the name Belladonna for “beautiful woman.”
They are always beautiful, the Belladonna women, [...]

I recently had cause to remember The Year that Blew My Mind. It wasn’t mind-blowing in a good way – the oyster of the world didn’t open up and reveal any grand pearls of wisdom – instead, my gray matter was challenged to find reason for the unreasonable, and causes for the inexcusable. [...]