Seniors view with wonder the Gay America of today: schools with gay/lesbian clubs; mainstream businesses that openly court us; books which once got you arrested are everywhere; marriage and military service are now possible. Proud to be an American? You bet. Sad to say, things are still not perfect and bigots, like the poor, will…
The cardinal wedding rule is no one looks prettier than the bride. For my cousin who was, shall we say, a big-boned girl with a great personality, this challenge was met with girls of various heights, weights, colors, amounts of acne and two baby bumps. All wore home-dyed lime(ish) dresses of taffeta and crinoline. The…
Some gay and lesbian seniors have been out for years; others only recently. And, sad to say, others are still in the closet. Many of us purposely keep our living space private in order to relax amid things of our lifestyle. These varying degrees of outness to friends, co-workers and relatives correspond to the varying…
I enjoy attending theater, opera and movies. However, inconsiderate audience members often ruin the illusion of participating in love, adventure and daring-do. For example years ago while I was enjoying a movie, three young women sat directly in front of me. The problem? All had huge afros creating a 6 feet x 1 foot black…
Good intentions are often misplaced as in the above photo. A young ad man proudly showed off his language skill and used this popular English phrase as an eye-catching slogan. It was a great success among foreigners who came in droves with their cameras. Surely the store owner was pleased. Similarly a Vietnamese restaurant near…
Being from the big city (Portland, Maine: 75,000), my one memorable experience of rural life was a Boy Scouts overnight trip to a farm. First, tents were put up in a pasture, carefully avoiding the cow pies and then off to the fields for “tasseling the corn.” Having no idea what that meant, I gamely…
As all my friends know, I am a martyr to my diet with ceaseless determination to lose 25 pounds. Recently I was shaken to the core by a drastic turn of events – the Hostess Corp. has filed bankruptcy proceedings. Never a food junkie, I have on rare occasions taken comfort from a Twinkie or,…
The older we get the more we realize even simple phrases heard in our youth have an actuality of surprising contradiction: “He lived life to the fullest” often equals, “He was a lush and womanizer.” And we all know what “confirmed bachelor” really means. One hears, “I wish I knew then what I know now.”…
We, the conquerors of the typewriter and mimeograph machine; we, who can type, take shorthand and fearlessly faced Dictaphone transcription; we, keepers of books with nothing but a pencil and eraser, now find our skills redundant. Adding to the humiliation is the recent triumph of our humble servant the telephone. Once so easy to use,…
My expectancy of a certain level of general knowledge is too often sadly unmet as happened this morning with a call to an un-named international airline to change the layover time on a United flight from Tokyo to San Diego via San Francisco. There was only a one and a half hour layover before departure…
