In honor of Thank A Teacher Day: the following is a slightly edited version of a post I wrote for Catonsville Patch over a year ago. You can read the original version here. The lilting, closing notes to Brahms’ Waltz in A Flat Major still rang in the air. (We had an actual pianist playing an actual grand piano in the studio when I took ballet.) We would have just completed our rond de jambe exercises at the bar, and we... Read more
Dear America, We need to talk. I love you very much. You are a magnificent place to live, grow up, and enjoy freedoms the strongest democracy on earth can provide. Like any human body with an illness, though, as much as you’d like to look away, you shouldn’t. You have complex and deep sicknesses afflicting your vital organs, and they need to be addressed. These vital organs should not be removed – they should be healed. The medicine is difficult... Read more
After the Jovan Belcher murder/suicide, I had the following discussion on Facebook with my friend, fellow Murrow-ite, New Yorker, and blogger, Chris Cataudella. Please read and discuss. Aliza Worthington So, all the articles you posted on gun control not being the issue in the Belcher crimes reminds me of a really smart thing some really smart lady once wrote… “…people who use abortion as a cheap and easy fix for their irresponsible behavior (if such people exist) are presenting symptoms... Read more
Full disclosure #1: I’ve never written a book review before. I apologize in advance. Full disclosure #2: The publisher sent me the book for free, but I was not compensated in any way to review it. Full disclosure #3: I don’t have a third one, but I kinda feel a list should have at least three things on it. Do not, I repeat, do NOT read Hot Mamalah, The Ultimate Guide for Every Woman of the Tribe if you are hungry, thirsty,... Read more
So, my previous Patch editor and I have had several discussions about the fact that while bloggers are valued and becoming more spotlighted on Patch (due to site-design changes), they remain unpaid for publishing there. Or on the Huffington Post. Or on the Daily Kos. Very few of the big sites pay their bloggers, as a matter of fact. Of course, this makes me bristle, but I try to look at the good points: I have no obligation to these... Read more
Once upon a time, there was a man named Dr. Benjamin Rush. Never heard of him? Not surprising, even though he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and helped ratify the Constitution of the United States. He was beloved in his time, spent much of his medical career helping the poor, was an advocate for abolition of both slavery and the death penalty, supporter of education for boys AND girls, and while serving as a doctor in the... Read more
I want Barack Obama to continue as our president for the next four years. “Oh, my goodness, I am SO SHOCKED to hear this!” said no one who has met me ever. Reasons range from shallow to profound, and from micro-specific to enormously broad. Let’s start with the obvious. 1. Obama is a friend of groups who have historically been ignored, dismissed, abused and refused basic rights of equality. He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. This... Read more
Dear Ann Coulter, I will keep this short, and use small words so that you have a chance of understanding getting what I’m saying. As the author of the following tweet from last night’s debates, you should be ashamed. For your edification improvement er, info, the word “retard” is defined by Merriam-Webster here. It has many legitimate acceptable um, okay uses – all having to do with the slowing of growth or slowing down (as in the musical term, “ritard”, which means to play more... Read more
My friend, Estelle, of Musings on Motherhood and Midlife, is starting a weekly feature on her blog called “Fun With Words Friday.” She gives us a topic (this week, it’s women and politics, in honor of the debates) and challenges us to write a short poem or limerick on that topic. You know me. I can’t say no to a challenge! So, here are my entries – enjoy! A Limerick: There once was a rich man from Bain Who felt... Read more
A few days ago, I was tagged in a blogging chain interview by a great friend who doesn’t realize how this would hang over my head if I didn’t do it immediately, so I’m doing it, already!!!! She asks 11 questions, I answer. Then, I have to come up 11 of my own – questions AND blogging friends – and tag said possibly-soon-to-be-former-friends to answer the questions. If they don’t, (to quote “The Oatmeal”) Jesus sets fire to a school... Read more
The Worthington Post
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In