I used to live next door to an old lady who would give me jars full of jam and come over to my house to instruct me on what chores I needed to do for her that weekend. Usually something like – untangling her wind-chimes, or getting a heavy blender out of her cabinet. Nothing […]
κάτι τρέχει στα γύφτικα! Say it after me – Katatraya stayeftika!- meaning – “There is trouble in the Gypsy village!” It also means “Who gives a shit?” or “Who cares?” I think that’s a wonderful launching point for this glorious mid-week. Put your life into context every once in a while. When presented with an issue, a […]
Excavating the ruins of a friendship or a relationship is always tricky. The classic line of He said / She said morphed somehow into Sex, Lies and Videotape – one imagines it was the advent of videotape, as sexing and lying have been quite popular for some time – and now you can’t get away […]
A misplaced soul suggests: I am on a small volunteer committee for the county, about 10 people. I joined a few months ago, and we only meet once a month, so I don’t know anyone’s name! I was introduced at my first meeting, but after that a month passed before I saw anyone again. I […]
The Shortest Horror Story: The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door. — Frederic Brown LISTEN: It was probably just a Jehovah’s Witness. And they’re not that scary. They’re quite friendly, in fact – and more than happy to go away and knock on someone else’s […]
A concerned commentary: I thought this stupid blog was supposed to be about etiquette. What’s with the voting crap? LISTEN: The real issue, my dearest friend, is that ultimately it is my blog, so if I wander around a bit, tough tits. But since you mentioned it, let me just say this: I don’t care who […]
An insulated introspection: With the election coming up, I have found it very handy to see what people post on facebook. Now I know who to delete! If I see someone supporting insert the opponent’s name of the guy you support here, I know that getting rid of them is the best thing to do for my […]
An unfriendly friend freaks out: I have a friend on facebook – and a friendly acquaintance in real life – who is in the same line of work that I am in, though in a completely different school of thought (in our field). He frequently, almost exclusively – posts condescending remarks about my segment of […]
A ticked-off parent hovers nearby, screeching: One of my neighbors has put up Halloween decorations that I think are just completely inappropriate. Can I tell him to “tone it down” or “take them down?” I don’t want to have to explain to my children why there is so much disgusting stuff hanging off his house. […]
“We’ll deal with that tomorrow…” Or the Next Day Or the next. Sigh. Time slips away. OK…a recap: According to our most recent correspondent – dinner guests show up: They criticized the size of our house, saying it was too small. They didn’t like our dog, they called the china kitschy, and said how nice […]