It hasn’t been the best of weeks. Jimmy still didn’t have time to get to Serendipity, as he’s working on his mother-in-Law’s car before mine, so I’m driving the borrowed geriatric Chevy. Or I was: on Saturday night, some joyrider in LaBelle hit and run while it was parked across the street. The owners of the car were very gracious about this and said such accidents are common. I think I can get the mirror back into place with... Read more
I was planting potatoes when Michael leaned out the window. “In case you need something to write about today,” he said, and I knew the jury in the Donald Trump civil case had come back. I came in, and there was the result. Liable for sexual abuse, not liable for rape, liable for defamation and actual malice. Five million dollars. I doubt she’ll see a cent, as he’ll be filing ridiculous appeals for the rest of his life. But... Read more
You know what I think would help immensely? I think we should call a spade a spade. Words have great power. If you speak about things truthfully, that can move mountains. I think we should tell the truth about gun nuts. Not about people who own guns in general. Not about hunters, or people who collect antique guns because they have an interest in military history. Not about people who have a gun or even a few guns carefully... Read more
Last night, we all received the news of yet another mass shooting, in a record-setting year for mass shootings in America. This one was at an outlet store in Allen, Texas. By the time you read this there will be another. Personally, I already spent Saturday reeling from news of a mass shooting in Columbus, in the Short North where I’ve been many times, near where my best friends live. That was the state I was in when I saw... Read more
Grandpa made me a dollhouse, the most beautiful dollhouse in the world. Dollhouses were my favorite toy. I already had a few– one was a classic 80s Fisher Price house, the kind with a doorbell which went “ding!” The other was a Forest Friends vacation house, with a loft for a roof, furnished with mismatched Plamobil furniture. The third was my mother’s old dollhouse, made by my grandfather from a kit a long time ago. I found it in... Read more
I have been watching the civil trial of Donald Trump. There aren’t any cameras in the courtroom, but reporters are doing their best to keep us up to date. I’ve been refreshing the tab every few minutes, waiting for the next tweet, reading, shuddering, refreshing the page again. It’s quite the court case. Ms. E. Jean Carroll has her own impassioned testimony, the testimony of her therapist, that of the person she called after it happened, and two other women... Read more
My grandfather died on the last day of April, eight years ago. I’ve told this story so many times. He was the nice grandfather, the internist who lived in Maryland, not the gruff attorney from Columbus who drank terrible coffee. Grandpa might have been the only person in the world to love me for what I actually was instead of what I was supposed to be. He took interest in the things I did and valued the things I liked.... Read more
It was quite a day for trolls yesterday. I woke up to find a very strange person commenting on my Twitter feed with links to conspiracy theories alleging “democide,” which doesn’t mean “killing of demons” as I allegedly thought. I was told I was a witch and “fit for hell” for disbelieving them. There was also a gentleman in a black T-shirt and sunglasses who relentlessly trolled my page to ask if I was “triggered,” to quote canon law at... Read more
I was going to try to go back to regular Sunday Mass attendance after Easter, but I couldn’t. Divine Mercy Sunday was a disaster. The panic attack made me unwell for days afterward. This past Sunday, I didn’t even try. I went to bed Saturday night with my usual Saturday night anxiety. I woke up feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of Mass, cringing from Mass the way a dog who’s been kicked cringes from his master’s shoes.... Read more
Adrienne brought me a bag of stuffed animals. She is eleven and a half now, an age for change. She is going to middle school this fall. Right now, she spends most of her spare time in her room, listening to her favorite streamers play and review video games. While she was listening this afternoon, she cleaned and organized her old toys. Some of her stuffed animals she kept for decorations, but these were the also-rans, the less important... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In