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  • Excitement!

    Excitement!

    Don’t mind if I do, WordPress bot… The last thing I got excited about was learning how to effectively block people online in every conceivable way, including on this blog of mine. The amount of stress and anger I used to experience has diminished massively. Oh, that, and the spicy agedashi tofu I made two…

  • This one’s a challenge, WordPress bot.

    This one’s a challenge, WordPress bot.

    1.) My cat, Annie, forever and always. Among her other perfect qualities, she very patiently lets me smooch her nonstop. 2.) Eggs for breakfast. Hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, poached, made into an omelette…they really are the perfect food, healing for both brain and body. 3.) My parents, almost 80 years old and with the energy and…

  • Was today typical?

    Was today typical?

    Sure. Now, please define “typical” for me. I’m not ever going to share intense details of my personal life, I’m not going to talk about my struggles, I’m not going to brag about my small victories, and I’m not going to give details about what I ate, thought, or did. This is a stoopid writing…

  • What Makes A Teacher Great?

    What Makes A Teacher Great?

    Thanks for this daily writing prompt, WordPress, because I can speak from first-hand knowledge. Not only was I an ESL teacher for many years, I was also a teacher trainer, meaning that I instructed fluent-level international students on how to be effective, creative English teachers in their home countries. I loathed teaching. Despised it. Never…

  • I Know Liberty, And It Is This Caftan.

    I Know Liberty, And It Is This Caftan.

    This wouldn’t even be close to a gunpoint-at-head scenario; it would be sweet relief and freedom. I purchased that caftan–an item of clothing I had never considered owning, never mind wearing, in my entire life–back in the summer of 2020. Along with all of the other atrocities and grotesqueries the world was forced to submit…

  • Candy is a food group.

    Candy is a food group.

    Growing up, I was lucky to have parents who worked full-time, yet came home to cook a nutritious dinner for us every single night. Our meals were standard fare–salads were always on the table, every single night, along with some version of chicken, potatoes, pasta, meatloaf, Doukhobor vegetarian food–while the memorable things that stick out…

  • Daily Writing Prompt: What’s My Only Luxury?

    Daily Writing Prompt: What’s My Only Luxury?

    Food. Proper food. I’ve been part of the working poor for my entire adult life–an unwilling proletariat–so I can’t say that I’ve had much in the way of luxuries apart from, maybe, nice fragrances. I haven’t had a car in decades (which is actually more of a fiery, idle money pit than a luxury, especially…

  • Favourite (with a “u,” please) Book From Childhood Was…

    Favourite (with a “u,” please) Book From Childhood Was…

    Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren. I wish I could remember how I first heard about it or got hold of it. Actually, strike that: I now completely remember. Our elementary-school librarian, Ms. Boniface, used to gather the first- and second-grade students together a few times a week to read aloud to us from her books…