Family | Mixed Metaphors

May 19 2014

Posts

Fed Up & Hungry for Change

“There is a public menace that threatens the children, threatens the future prosperity of the country and threatens you” ― Robert Cameron Fowler, Indiewire

Today I saw the documentary film, Fed Up. From the film’s website, “Everything we’ve been told about food and exercise for the past 30 years is dead wrong. FED UP is the film the food industry doesn’t want you to see. From Katie Couric, Laurie David (Oscar winning producer of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) and director Stephanie Soechtig, FED UP will change the way you eat forever.”

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Tagged AA, Activism, Diabetes, Diets, Documentary, Exercise, Family, Fat, Films, Food, Health Care Epidemic, Metabollic Disorders, Nutrionists, Obesity, Personal Narratives, Stories, Sugar

Apr 20 2014

1 Comment

Posts

Journal/Journey

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez

Years before I started writing for others, I wrote poetry and journaled for myself. Sometimes I would share a poem with the person who inspired it yet seldom a journal entry. Journaling by its very nature is a private act, a conversation with oneself, often a daily record of happenings, experiences and observations. Sometimes our loved ones or curious friends or colleagues surreptitiously read our journals. Much is written about the consequences of reading someone’s journal without the author’s permission.

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Tagged AA, Easter, Family, Fathers, Friends, Holidays, Home, Journaling, Journals, LGBTQ, Love, Memoir, Mothers, Movies, Personal Narratives, Queer, Racine, Relationships, Spring, Stories, Wisconsin Film Festival, Work

Mar 23 2014

3 Comments

Posts

The Comfort of Sourdough Pancakes

How friends, family and food feed the spirit.

Life has a way of unfolding in waves. Some days the lake is calm, other days, treacherous. What’s required is an ability to navigate confidently and to be even-keeled when called upon. Sometimes we require a crew, shipmates who can prevent us from capsizing. Continue reading →

Tagged Comfort, Family, Food, Friends, Holidays, Home, Intimacy, Memoir, Personal Narratives, Relationships, Stories, Support

Mar 16 2014

Posts

The Vibrator Story

People and families have a personal narrative history and so do places. My birthplace, my hometown, Racine, Wisconsin has one. It is the story of a factory town which attracted European immigrants, beginning with French explorers in 1699 who established trading posts at the mouth of the Root River where it empties into Lake Michigan.

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Tagged Family, History, Personal Narratives, Racine, Wisconsin, Work, Working Class

Mar 01 2014

1 Comment

Posts

The Ex Files

“Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too” Landslide, Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac

Thomas Wolfe’s posthumously published novel, You Can’t Go Home Again, posits that we can never return to the home or town we left and find that it has remained as we remember, that the people and place are the same, though we have changed. The comfort we may seek in reliving memories is elusive. You can return home or revisit relationships however, and discover how much things have changed and remained the same. Continue reading →

Tagged Coming Out, Exes, Family, Fathers, LGBTQ, Loss, Love, Marriage, Mothers, Racine, Relationships, Stories

Feb 16 2014

1 Comment

Posts

Musings on a Year of Writing

“I’ve learned that by the practice of writing with intention, discipline, and passion, I became a writer.”

This past week marks a year, the anniversary, the birthday of this blog. I’ve been writing as an avocation for over 35 years, beginning with poetry, followed by recovery journals, stand-up comedy and monologue scripts, memoir writing, and finally as an activist-essayist. Since starting this blog and maintaining a practice of writing at least weekly, I’ve become the thing I’ve been doing. I’m a writer. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Activism, Avocation, Family, Freelance, Journaling, Memoir, Personal Narratives, Poetry, Recovery, Stories, Storyteller, Vocation, Work, Writing

Feb 09 2014

1 Comment

Posts

Conversations w/My Next Girlfriend: Episode 4

Note: The following post is fourth in a series of imaginary conversations with my next girlfriend.

Dear Next Girlfriend,

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.” — Lucille Ball.

Who would have thought that Lucille Ball, comedienne and star of I Love Lucy, could express in a few simple words what I finally learned to practice after a decade in therapy? Yes, it’s that time of year again, love is in the air and chocolatiers, florists, restaurants and the folks at Hallmark are busy trying to get into our pockets, and not to be too crude, but for those of you out there in a relationship, your “special someone” is trying to get into your pants. Next girlfriend, I was hoping to be included in that group. Oh well, I’m going to practice patience while I wait for you and continue to enjoy and celebrate my single life, and today, acknowledge all the love I’m grateful to both give and receive. Continue reading →

Tagged Dating, Family, Friends, Holidays, LGBTQ, Love, Queer, Relationships, Valentine's Day

Jan 05 2014

6 Comments

Posts

Things Left Unsaid

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” ― Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” ― Benjamin Franklin

The New Year held lessons and reminders for me from the very beginning. First, I must acknowledge my gratitude for the outcome, it has given me an opportunity to practice what I’ve learned this week, which is to say the things left unsaid, and to quiet my voice when what I’m tempted to say is hurtful, unnecessary, or gossip. Continue reading →

Tagged Death, Documentaries, Family, Films, Intentions, LGBTQ, Loss, Love, Mothers, Movies, Regrets, Relationships, Stories

Dec 15 2013

Posts

Conversations w/My Next Girlfriend: Episode 3

Dear Next Girlfriend,

First, I want to apologize for not staying in touch. This is such a busy time of year with family gatherings, work parties, get-togethers with friends and the cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping, gift-exchanging that comes with the holiday season. Last night, I was out on a Saturday night for the first time in a long time to the Madison Area Lesbian Women’s Social Meetup Group Holiday Potluck. Yes, it’s the season for holiday potlucks. The one last night was a good one for many reasons: lots of women I didn’t know (refreshing for a change), good food, and a lively White Elephant gift exchange. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Food, Friends, Girlfriend, Holidays, LGBTQ, Potluck, Stories

Dec 07 2013

3 Comments

Posts

A Gender Journey in Three Vignettes

Preface

This week when beginning to write a piece for my LGBTQ Narratives Activist-Writers group, I was in a fog. The prompt was a broad subject, gender, and in fact I had suggested it. It is a topic that interests me. It’s a dynamic subject, it affects perception, language, challenges assumptions, and forces us to adapt to our changing culture, roles and identities. Continue reading →

Tagged AA, Family, Fathers, Friends, Gender Identity, Home, LGBTQ, Marriage, Memoir, Mothers, Personal Narratives, Queer, Racine, Relationships, Seventies, The fifties

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Tag Archives: Family

Fed Up & Hungry for Change

Journal/Journey

The Comfort of Sourdough Pancakes

How friends, family and food feed the spirit.

The Vibrator Story

The Ex Files

Musings on a Year of Writing

Conversations w/My Next Girlfriend: Episode 4

Things Left Unsaid

Conversations w/My Next Girlfriend: Episode 3

A Gender Journey in Three Vignettes