Love | Mixed Metaphors

Sep 27 2024

Posts

Things Change

“There is nothing permanent except change.” — Heraclitus

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” —Alan Watts

As a person of a certain age — my favorite euphemism for old —change is an undeniable truth of life. As I write, it’s the eve of autumn, the changing of the seasons, and the day before a memorial service for a coworker, confidant, and friend. Things Change has also been the theme of this year, and the title of my 17th annual journal, which begin in September. It’s also the final chapter of my life — no longer a dress rehearsal — yet an opportunity “To change the things I can” and leave a legacy behind, the measure of my life. Continue reading →

Tagged Culture, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Health, Holidays, Home, Loss, Love, Madison, Mother, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Technology, Things Change, Work

Jul 14 2024

Posts

Goodbye to Our Childhood Home

You Can’t Go Home Again — Title of the novel by Thomas Wolfe

“In life, a person will come and go from many homes. We may leave a house, a town, a room, but that does not mean those places leave us. Once entered, we never entirely depart the homes we make for ourselves in the world.” — Ari Berk

“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” — Maya Angelou

Grief and gratitude, letting go and holding on, and things change have been themes for me this past year (and longer).

Note: This reminiscence was written in response to the prompt, Home, for my Door County Write On LGBTQ+ Writers’ Group.

Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Death, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, Loss, Love, Memoir, Memories, Mother, Racine, Sisters, Stories, Traditions

Feb 05 2024

Posts

The Last Goodbye

We bid farewell to our father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

“Someday I’m going to write a book about our family!” — This writer as a defiant 16-year-old.

“I look forward to reading it!” — Our beloved mother

First, I haven’t drafted and posted new content for this blog since the end of October. The past three months have been a challenge and an unexpected journey. Though I’ve not written for my blog, I’ve done more writing during this period compared to what is typical. Most of it communication with bio and chosen family, journal entries, and social media posts. Continue reading →

Tagged Blatz Party, Brother, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Elegy for my father, Family, Father, Friends, Funeral, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Internment, Loss, Love, Memorial, Memories, Mother, Obituary, Racine, Stories, Tag Team Sisters, Tribute to my father, Visitation

Sep 17 2023

Posts

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Meditation definition (Oxford Languages) – a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.

Mortality definition (Oxford Languages) – the state of being subject to death.

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live.” — Joan Baez

As a person of a certain age — living my seventh decade — death and dying are on my mind.

Recently, there have been unexpected deaths of friends and loved ones, plus celebrities and artists in the public sphere, caused by accidents, deadly health crisis, unknown reasons, suicide, or overdose. When we’re unprepared for the sudden news, it’s both shocking and unsettling. For many of us, it’s a reminder of our own mortality. Continue reading →

Tagged 9/11, Celebration of Life, Chosen Family, Death, Death and Dying, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Legacy, Life and Living, Loss, Love, Meditations, Memoir, Memories, Mortality, Mother, Sisters

Feb 05 2023

Posts

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

“Sometimes we become what we do. I became a writer by writing.”— Linda Lenzke, Blogger & More

“I write to discover what I know.” — Flannery O’Connor

Ten years ago in January, I took a WordPress class at Madison College. I decided that I wanted to take the next step as a writer: design, create, and launch a blog. I had been taking a series of reminiscence writing classes from a mentor and writing coach who would later become a friend and writing partner, Sarah White of First Person Productions. Prior to the classes, I had been writing for decades, poetry, spoken word monologues, stand-up comedy, and journaling for over 30 years. The reminiscence classes were a launchpad for my memoir, Perfectly Flawed, which I’m still writing, editing, and adding content as I live and write. Continue reading →

Tagged Blog, COVID-19, Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Home, LGBTQ, Love, Memoir, Memories, Mixed Metaphors Oh My!, Personal Narratives, Recovery, Relationships, Seasons, Stories, Writing

Jan 22 2023

Posts

It Takes a Village: Lessons Learned

“We are all in this together.” ― Hillary Rodham Clinton, It Takes a Village

“Accepting help is its own kind of strength.” ― Kiera Cass

February will be the 10^th Anniversary of my blog, Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! When I began designing it, I first needed to determine why I write. I saw it first as an extension of my journals, except I would invite others to read what I wrote. From the About section of the blog, Why I Write:

First, I consider myself a journalist, not the fact-checking, who, what, where, and when kind of reporter – but the gut-checking – why did this, or why is this happening to me or others and what can I learn from the experience – activist-essayist and memoirist. I keep journals, write memoirs and personal narratives as a record of my journey and exploration inward, allowing me to excavate and externalize aspects of my essence and experience, bringing them out of the shadows and into the light. Journaling and writing personal narratives is the process of first becoming aware, accepting and embracing what I have uncovered, followed by the charting of a new course. Continue reading →

Tagged Bio Family, Blog, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Friends, Gratitude, Hip Replacement, Holidays, It Takes a Village, Lessons Learned, Love, Pod Squad, Recliner, Recovery, Relationships, Sisters, Stories

Dec 06 2022

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Posts

Letter to Loved Ones (Just in Case)

“My life has not always been easy, but it’s always been worth the effort. I’ve not always possessed what I’ve wanted, but I always received what I needed, and most days it was simply the love of friends and family, and the ability to live comfortably in my own skin.” — from Dispatch from the Hideout: Letter to Loved Ones

For those who know me personally and/or read my blog or social media posts, I’m open and share freely about my personal life, some say I overshare. I write about my lived experience, often the mundane moments of everyday life, and sometimes I wax philosophically or poetically about our shared universal human experience. In essence, I’m an open book, and you choose whether to pick it up and read, or not! Continue reading →

Tagged Death, Dispatch from the Hideout, Family, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Hip Replacement, Journals, Legacy, Letter to Loved Ones, Love, Obituary, Recovery, Tag Team Sisters

Mar 20 2022

Posts

A Filmgoer’s Guide to the Best Films of 2021

“The part about going to the movies that was so thrilling was not the film itself…but being around other humans, tearing up at the end and realizing that the people on either side of me were sniffling, too.” — How Life Resumes, NTY, Melissa Kirsch, 2/19/22

Things change. As I write, the Academy Awards are a week away on Sunday, March 27. I usually post my annual, A Filmgoer’s Guide to the Best Films, well in advance of the Oscars. Since the event is approaching, the deadline for this review is here.

Award shows this year, those that didn’t cancel their in-person events, were delayed. The same was true of many of the films from 2021. Studios hoped people would feel safe enough to return to theaters in person so they postponed premieres. Most didn’t feel safe, including me. Continue reading →

Tagged A Filmgoer's Guide to the Best Films, Audiences, B/W, Cinephile, COVID-19, Critics, Family, Father, Films, Grief, Loss, Love, Mother, Movie Theater, Movies, Pandemic, Personal Narratives, Relationships, Reviews, Stories, Streaming Subscriptions, The Bechdel Test

Feb 14 2022

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: Love in a Pandemic 2.0

Heard today: “I finally fell in love with my person.”

My realization: “My person, is me!”

Though the title of this Valentine’s Day holiday musing is Dispatch from the Hideout: Love in a Pandemic 2.0 it is actually the eve of the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Let that sink in for a moment.

Like most things in life, we can look at life from both sides now (cue the amazing Joni Mitchell). There’s pre-pandemic romantic love and our relationships with friends and family — compared to the past two years of love in a pandemic. It was a challenge and we each made an assessment — weighing the risks versus benefits — every time we made a decision of when, where, and how we’d get together in-person with friends, family, and loved ones with whom we didn’t live. When you live alone, the question became more powerful. How much isolation can my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being tolerate? Continue reading →

Tagged Chosen Family, Conversations with My Next Girlfriend, COVID-19, COVID-19 Journal Project, Crushes, Dating, Dispatch from the Hideout, Ex-Partners, Family, Friends, Holidays, Love, Pandemic, Pod Squad, Relationships, Romantic Love, Valentine's Day

Dec 12 2021

Posts

The Legacy of Material Things

“We didn’t have much, but we had love.” ― Tyler Perry

“I’ve not always possessed what I’ve wanted, but I always received what I needed, and most days it was simply the love of friends and family, and the ability to live comfortably in my own skin.” ― From Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! Dispatch from the Hideout: Letter to Loved Ones

It’s that time of year when we celebrate the holidays, often the traditions of the generations that preceded us, the food we eat, the rituals we recreate, the stories we tell, and the memories we share. This is our legacy. It’s also that time of year when many of us look back and reflect on the year behind us and grieve our loved ones no longer present in life.

We inherit many things from our family, from our DNA to our shared lived experiences, both nature and nurture. We also inherit material things, bequeaths, mementos, and gifts from family, friends, and loved ones. They also represent a legacy. What creates a person’s legacy? Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Family, Father, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Legacy of Material Things, Loss, Love, Marriage, Relationships, Sisters

Mixed Metaphors

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

Tag Archives: Love

Things Change

Goodbye to Our Childhood Home

The Last Goodbye

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Celebrating a Decade of Mixed Metaphors, Oh My!

It Takes a Village: Lessons Learned

Letter to Loved Ones (Just in Case)

A Filmgoer’s Guide to the Best Films of 2021

Dispatch from the Hideout: Love in a Pandemic 2.0

The Legacy of Material Things