Many of you readers either have had abortions or, if not, a good number of your friends have. I never did get pregnant during those times when I was trying to be bisexual. But it seems that every other woman I know had that experience. From the days when it was illegal: My mother, at […]
My Lack of Nostalgia
A brilliant article by Phyllis Chesler brings me to this topic. “Nostalgia for the Slaughterhouse” talks about romanticization of the Jewish shtetls, via the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Chesler wonders why modern American Jews, particularly those coming from Eastern European backgrounds, fall in love with this sentimental picture of our ancestors’ lives, when the […]
Why I Hit the (Dye) Bottle
My last post received a comment from Esther Newton, who said she was surprised to hear that I had ever dyed my hair. Today I will explain how that came to be. When I met Sylvia in 1997, she was working as a tech writer. It’s a young field. In order to get jobs you […]
Our Hearts are Still Young and Gay
A few years ago Sylvia and I decided to stop dyeing our hair. Our hearts might still be young and gay, but the rest of us was old and gray. We thought her auburn and my dark brown locks looked silly next to all those wrinkles. I never expected to live this long. While still […]
An April Day, in Portland
A Crack in the Sidewalk Four Horsemen Transfixed at my desk, I stare at a window into a world of wars and lies. Three Orwellian empires —or rather their soldiers, who after all are only following orders— jockey to swallow the borderlands, to slaughter whoever dares to resist the theft of whatever they planted in […]
Hope Is The Thing With Wings
We’re all overwhelmed with grim stories from around the globe, so I’ll try to cheer the reader up with local news and old memories. Invasion in Portland First, our house has been invaded. I’ve been looking at the invaders and thinking of Emily Dickinson’s poem that begins, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” only my […]
Pagan Origins of Purim, the Jewish Carnival
Today is Purim, a good day to forget the troubles of the world and party down. If you’re Orthodox, all the books of the Bible are a true record of events. But non-Orthodox Jewish scholars, who study archaeological evidence and ancient documents, say that the Book of Esther has no historical basis. It appears to […]
A Tale of Evil Empires, and a Bit of Humor
Where Did the Afghans Go? For weeks the news in The New York Times was all about Afghanistan, about the sudden and badly managed (to say the least) pullout of U.S. troops, the sudden victory of the Taliban, and distress of those thousands who were left behind and are being targeted for assassination. Now the […]
A Blizzard of B.S., and a Poem
Today I’m commenting on some of the lies and distortions that the mainstream media shovel at us. And I’m not talking about Fox News but so-called reputable sources like The New York Times. I’ll start with a couple of juicy murder mysteries since, as they say in the news business, “If it bleeds, it leads.” […]
Winning Battles, Losing the Long War–and a Poem
In this week’s post, I’ll share my perspective on some political and economic developments. If you’d prefer something lighthearted, skip down to the cosmically-inspired poem at the end. It will take you out of this world. The Empire Struck Back When I was in my 20s, crusading against the Vietnam War and for the rights […]