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On Being Busy
Ever since StoryCorps contacted me and told me they wanted to include my 2009 interview in their anthology Callings, and oh, by the way, NPR wants to feature you in Morning Edition, and Parade Magazine wants to do a piece on you as well, and O Magazine would like to speak with you, and wouldn’t…
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Migraine Awareness
June is Migraine Awareness Month. As a lifelong sufferer myself, I know what it’s like to deal with people’s many misconceptions about this malady. The lack of understanding and the crazy ideas about migraines can be nearly as painful as the headache. The first, most frustrating fallacy about migraines is that “It’s all in your…
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Family Norms
One spring break in college I went home with a friend. Half Catholic Italian, half Jewish, hers was a noisy, welcoming household. Neighbors would come and go without knocking on their door, and help themselves to whatever happened to be cooking on the stove. The house was full of light and crackled with energy. And…
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Secret Squirrel
I know several people who have a very strong sense of privacy. They don’t reveal anything to anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary. They are listeners, not talkers. They observe the world, and keep their opinions about it to themselves. On more than one occasion I have been shocked to my very core when I’ve found…
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Owls and Letters
The owls are going absolutely nuts tonight. There must be ten of them out there, hooting their feathery butts off, and it’s been going on for hours. I felt the need to escort my little dogs on their evening backyard bathroom foray for fear they’d be spirited away. I mentioned this to a friend, who…
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“End of Discussion”
More than one man in my life has said that to me, and it always works. For a split second. Because I’m rendered speechless by the arrogance, the gall, the unbelievable nerve that it takes to even conceive of that sentence, let alone utter it out loud. It seems to be part of the collective…