Memoirous

I've blogged here before about the Chicago Marathon ( see other posts ). It's been getting way too big and corporate through the years. The decision to run it is almost now on the level of mortgaging a house. People nowadays are paying quite a bit in order to be punished for 26.3 miles. But that's the easy part. The event gets sold out n a matter of minutes, okay a day, and that's if the system doesn't get overwhelmed. This year there was a major hiccup and about 15,000 runners had to wait and see if they were actually signed up. Many runners also double-paid by registering twice. A simpler on-line system has to be devised. Once the marathon is sold out (about 45,000 runners) then the only way to get a number is to attach yourself to one or more charities that have been given a block of numbers for fundraising. How do I know all of this? Because I help promote Team CCO which raises funds for a local shelter. The team has all sorts of incentives for people interest...

I got the sad news today. A friend of mine is shutting down his used bookstore. Though to be honest we knew it was coming. Not so much a market decision as much as one dealing with real estate. The owner of the building from which my friend rented had sold the property. Soon the building would be demolished and replaced by a high-end hotel. Lately my husband and I, avid book collectors, have been uncollecting. Last weekend we unloaded two Rubbermaid bins at a church rummage sale. We tried selling them for a $1 and then settled for fifty cents. We kept to the side a special pile hoping to get $2 a piece. We didn’t sell any at that price and ended up re-boxing them to eventually sell to a dealer—five for $9. We’re at an age where we worry about the future. Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, (what’s the difference?), money for healthcare we don’t have. We’re paring down stuff we don’t need anymore, trying to lighten the load of possessions that now seem more of a burden tha...

I’ve been trying not to think about Boston. I’ve run a few marathons. I remember when the Chicago Marathon felt like a country race. Imagine—friends and family actually finding you at the finish line! Now with over 45,000 running it—well, good luck meeting up. But of course back then there weren’t the chips or ways to track using cell phones. So I’ve been diverting my attention to other news. Like this piece about late authors homes—now Starbucks! http://flavorwire.com/385163/ the-questionable-fates-of- famous-authors-birthplaces/ Or this article about Flannery O’Connor—as if we needed another reason to love her. http://flavorwire.com/319487/ one-more-reason-to-love- flannery-oconnor Oddly enough I was just thinking about her story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find", this morning while scrambling eggs. Actually I think I finally got the story. It is the story of convicts on the loose hiding out in the backwoods of Georgia and how a family who had stumble...

Today I trekked up to Winnetka to OCWW (Off-Campus Writers Workshop) in the cold, misty half-snow half-rain. I know, a lot of dreary weather adjectives. It was a multiple weather adjective day. Christine Sneed was speaking. I’d heard her at a AWP panel in 2012 talk about organizing short story collections. Her talk today was about the short story and so I submitted a manuscript and, surprise, mine was selected for the workshop. It’s something I’ve submitted around, but haven’t had any takers on yet. The class really liked it and there were some key suggestions on improving it! Lately I’ve been feeling invisible. I’m sure this all ties in with my artistic insecurities, but truthfully writing more and more seems like a young person’s world. Christine touched on this. She said she was somewhat of a late bloomer. Or maybe that she’d blossomed and it took a decade for people to notice. Anyway, for women of a certain age, we’re easily looked over. Part of it is: I don’t look v...

I'm on page 46! CLICK HERE • The Happy Couple by Gessy Alvarez • Distance by Susan Tepper • Cents of Wonder Rhymes with Orange by David S. Atkinson • Cul-de-Sacs & Blindfolds by Ahimaaz Rajesh • Works by Howie Good • Huge Things Happen by Meg Tuite • The Pissing Man by Tom Barlow • Fly Away by Jane Hoppen • The Chicken Sees by Monique Roussel • Works by Kyle Hemmings • Bubbled Up All Over by Kate LaDew • Dream Maker by Robert Vaughan • Living Alone by Joe Jatcko • Death Car Girl by Brandon French • Sabeen by MaryAnne Kolton • Legacy by JP Reese • A Few Things He Didn’t Mention by Josepha Gutelius • Nelson by Jason DeYoung • Works by Jocelyn Crawley

Things that once seemed settled are now thrown into jeopardy. This is how it feels right now to be a woman. Unbelievably I am seeing the dismantling of women’s reproductive rights taking place state-wide across the United States. Was it last week North Dakota passed an extremely limited abortion bill? This weekend Kansas did the same. The bill is before the governor and is expected to be signed soon. In addition the bill “spells out in detail what information doctors must provide to patients seeking abortions.” Really? How does that work? At what point did the Republican legislature go to medical school. I also wrote last year about Wisconsin Republican State Rep. Don “White” Pridemore, who was co-sponsoring a bill with State Sen. Glenn Grothman with language equating single parenting with child abuse, saying that women in even abusive relationships should seek options other than divorce. READ What is in the Cheese these Wisconsin legistators are eating? I feel we are en...

That’s how it felt yesterday when I learned the news that Roger Ebert had died. I was shocked because just the day before I’d heard on the radio that he had decided to slow down—yeah, but not die. He told his fans and blog followers that with the return of cancer he would not be checking in as frequently, that he was going to spend his time and limited energy on other projects and Ebert Digital . Now to be fair—I wasn’t a fan of many of his reviews, but I’d always appreciated his writing. And his courage.  He was able to pick himself up and write on! He lost his jaw, his voice, but never his ability to communicate. At his blog he wrote what has got to be the most loving appreciation of a marriage I’ve ever read—it actually made me jealous as I wonder if anyone would ever think of me as highly as he thought of his wife/partner Chaz.  "Wednesday, July 18, is the 20th anniversary of our marriage. How can I begin to tell you about Chaz? She fills my horizon, she i...