The joys of technology during a pandemic and the curses of AB5

It’s been quite the adventure dealing with COVID-19 on top of site issues due to my host migrating files months ago. My Christian patience is exhausted. Due to all that, and California’s obnoxious AB5 law that has killed all freelancing in the state and is punishing even out-of-state clients with … Read more…

Are You an Introvert? Yay!

Is your son cautious? Bravo! Has your daughter been told she’s shy? Good for her! Society as a whole does not value introverts, even though introverts are variously estimated at 1/3 to ½ the U.S. population, more or less. Everyone is supposed to get out there and do whatever other … Read more…

Why Do We Cry, Really?

Surely physical pain can and does cause great suffering and tears because of its intensity. Women especially know agonizing pain because of childbirth or disabling, long-term problems with their reproductive system. Migraines or cancer or severe injuries can drop either gender to the floor. And the list goes on. Yet … Read more…

Late Awakening to a Pervasive Problem

I first wrote about bullying back in 2006 and even before. Now, more than a decade later, it is still a deeply troubling subject. A society that has long tolerated many insidious forms of bullying is still having trouble accepting its worsening reality and its devastating results. Society as a … Read more…

Shropshire Music Foundation

How did a young, single, female music teacher from Los Angeles, who was planning a backpacking trip to Austria for a month, end up instead in a Kosovo Refugee Camp in 1999? In April 1999 Liz Shropshire heard an NPR report about the refugees from war-torn Kosovo who were leaving … Read more…

When Children Are Not Little Angels

A loving young (or older) mother can have a child with behavioral problems from the get-go. Some babies are born cooing and calm, all sweetness and affection, but others come out yelling and never seem to stop. Sometimes, if the irritability is related to digestive problems, they may well scream … Read more…

Favorite Childhood Books

Most readers have a favorite book or movie from childhood. Those of us who arrived at being writers had many favorites. To choose a single favorite book from childhood that actually influenced who I am today? Aye, there’s the rub! We had little money but we had the public library … Read more…