I always called my older brother the guy I grew up with. We were two years and nine months apart and as a little girl I worshipped him. When we were young the feeling wasn’t mutual. He hated having to drag me along with his friends to the Saturday afternoon movies or to walk me to school. He made me walk on the other side of the street. But later on we became real buddies. He took me to the Cubs games during the afternoons he ditched Hebrew School. He brought me books from the library when I was sick in bed. And when we both didn’t like the same foods, we’d sit at the table together, however long our mother made us sit trying to make us eat. We went to the same high school but only had one year together – he a senior and I a freshman. Since he was a checker in the cafeteria, he always let me take a cut while checking out. I loved the way he looked – white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, holding his pack of cigarettes, Levies, and his white buck shoes. The cigarettes are the key … [Read more...]
Remembering Paul – again!
Paul's birthday was yesterday - New Years Eve. And yesterday he would have been fifty years old. To me that seems like yesterday though I'm probably no different from other mothers who remember the births of their children in vivid detail no matter how long ago they were born. Paul was only twenty-seven when he died in 1999. Here are some wonderful photos to share. … [Read more...]
Life through poetry
I'm still writing a poem everyday. One that takes ten minutes or less to write. Thought I'd share a couple here today, and I'd love your feedback. Here's yesterday's poem: This day, December 17, Sixty years ago I got married. Wearing a short white dress With three/quarter sleeves And a tiny veil, I said my vows to Carl Kress, My first husband. I knew for sure The night before As I cried myself To sleep That this marriage would fail. But I went through With it anyway. That day was a beautiful And happy day, But as soon as it Turned into night At the Beverly Hills Hotel My happiness with that man Was over for good. I wish I could find a photo of that dress, but unfortunately I cannot- perhaps as a sign that that was an event to forget about. Here's a dress kind of like it. I recently finished Sue Monk Kidd's The Book of Longings about a fictional wife of Jesus. Here's the poem I wrote about it. The question today is Did Jesus have a wife? And if he did Would it have changed … [Read more...]
Read how Nancy King breaks the silence!
Choices is so happy to be part of sharing the moving memoir, Breaking the Silence by Nancy King. Please welcome Nancy while she's on her WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tour. About Breaking the Silence: Secrets. Lies. Silences. Stories told by parents and their families to protect themselves. A father who defends his wife despite her damage to their daughter’s health and welfare. A mother, shielded by her husband, who perpetuates murderous acts of violence against the daughter, and keeps secret her husband’s sexual “play” with the young girl. And yet … Nancy King, determined to learn the truth of her childhood and the heartbreaking effects it has had on her adult life, uncovers the secrets. Sees through the lies. Breaks the silence. Empowered by the stories she told herself as a child, she learns to use stories as part of her work as a university professor teaching theater, drama, world literature, and creative expression. Gradually, with the help of body work and therapy, she … [Read more...]
A little reminder
I think it's time to remind my readers that I have written a few books besides all this blog stuff. Here's some information about a couple of them: Papa's Shoes: A Polish shoemaker and his family settle in small-town America - an award winning historical novel published in April 2019. Here's a few comments about this five-star rated book. "From an insightful storyteller, Papa's Shoes, is a heartwarming story of courage and love. Author Madeline Sharples has created an epic journey with intriguing twists and surprises along the way. From days of old in Poland to cultural and economic realities in America, this is an awe-inspiring novel about families, generational history, and the incredible power of change. You truly won't want to put it down!" --D.A. Hickman, author of Ancients of the Earth: Poems of Time "Author Madeline Sharples tells the intimate story of an American family, of immigration, tragedy, renewal, and love with grace and the delicate touch of a poet. There's a raw … [Read more...]
What’s your blind spot?
Let's welcome Rob Hoffman on his first WOW! Women on Writing virtual book tour to promote his latest book, Blind Spot. We are very excited to read his guest post, "Man Plans and God Laughs," a common expression heard throughout many of our lives. Man Plans and God Laughs by Rob Hoffman Humans are guilty of so much. Really, we are a sinful tribe when you cut right down to it. Forget the seven deadly sins, that barely scratches the surface. Ten Commandments, geez, that wouldn’t even cover a night in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Oh I know what you’re thinking, we’re not all bad, not all of the time. We are capable of so much good, you say. Yes I know, and that might be humanity’s greatest sin of all, wasted potential. No blog could ever capture all of our flaws, so it beguiles us to try and narrow the vast and practically endless ocean of faults and sinful behavior that inhabit humanity down at its core. While we can debate which of our transgressions are worse … [Read more...]
60s Rock & Roll. Wow!
Please welcome our guest today, Neill McKee while on his WOW! Women on Writing virtual tour of his book, Kid on the Go! Memoir of My Childhood and Youth. We are lucky to have his thoughts about living through the 1960s rock and roll culture. But here's Neill in his own words. Surviving the 1960s Rock n’ Roll Culture by Neill McKee Chapter 12 of Kid on the Go! begins with the words: “As my hormones went from 2nd into a smoother 3rd gear, I began to follow my brother’s and our friend Blake’s lead. We often wore our shirt collars up and used lots of Brylcreem to curve our hair forward at the front and slicked down on the sides, forming a ducktail at the back, exactly like Elvis Presley. We had entered the Rock & Roll world of the early 1960s.” I also wrote, “This period of my life is embedded in my memory like a series of movie vignettes that appear to have little purpose until you reach the end.” I titled the chapter Canadian Graffiti, after the popular movie, … [Read more...]
The No Good Ex
I hadn't thought much about my ex husband until I heard he had recently died. We were divorced in 1965. If you’ve had an ex-husband or wife you’ll probably get this. That no matter what happens it’s always the ex’ fault, right? Mine did everything wrong – aside from being as handsome as a young Marlon Brando and having, at least in my mind, a terrific job as a film editor at MGM (he won an Oscar for "Towering Inferno"). He drank too much, he smoked weed, he went bar hopping with his high school buddies instead of staying home and paying attention to me, and he also fucked around. But none of those things were why I decided to leave him. I got pregnant. And at first he seemed to like the idea. So did his parents. They believed my having a baby would mean I finally would stop working and become a real housewife and mother. After all, it was the 1960s and that’s what most women did at that time. They didn’t have good jobs or think about their careers. Except I liked my job and I … [Read more...]
You must watch “Dopesick” on Hulu!
"Dopesick" is an eight-part drama miniseries created by Danny Strong based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy. I watched the first episode last night and thought the story, acting, and message were terrific. I became interested in the subject matter - the Sackler family's production and marketing of OxyContin - after reading an article about it in "The New Yorker" several years ago. At that time an investigation had just started of the Sackler claims that this painkilling drug was only one percent addictive. You'll have to watch the miniseries on Hulu to see if those claims were true and how OxyContin use affected some communities in rural America. So will I. The second episode goes live tomorrow, Wednesday, October 27, 2021. What makes this series even more watchable is the great cast - lead by Michael Keaton who plays a rural doctor who starts giving the pain killer to one of his female patients who … [Read more...]
Photos of Bob bring me comfort
I keep thinking I should move all my photographs from my crowded iPhone to some kind of storage device. However, I have to thank the phone’s capability to organize and remind me of the photos I have stored there. Almost every day I see another photo of Bob, as if he’s come by to say hello again and again since he died almost a year ago. We took many pictures together, but I like the ones I took only of him – especially with his ever-present small, half closed-mouth smile while he looked at me across a table. Some of course were action shots; for example, as he perused a tall agave bloom in our garden or stood against the Manhattan Beach pier railing while watching the boogey boarders and surfers down below. He loved having his picture taken. We went to lots of places together – in Europe, in Africa, in Israel, in California, in New York, and of course took tons of pictures. One of my favorite shots is of him and his college buddy Morty intimately chatting about all the years gone by. … [Read more...]
Middle school students will love A.J. Kormon’s cat mysteries
Please welcome A.J. Kormon on while she's on her WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING tour of her three Halloway Hills Middle School Mysteries. These three books are for ages nine to eleven and each feature a mischievous cat. And we are fortunate that A.J. has written a essay for us on what kids learn from entrepreneurial parents. We hope you'll enjoy the post. What Kids Learn from Entrepreneurial Parents By A.J. Kormon With more and more people turning to entrepreneurship—or a job and a side gig as an entrepreneur—it’s not unreasonable to expect more kids will be exposed to the benefits and struggles of being your own boss. Growing up, both my parents worked outside of the home, so starting a business wasn’t something that crossed my mind as something I could do. I just assumed I would get a job when I finished university. Entrepreneurship comes with a lot of perks, like setting your own hours, choosing who you work with, and deciding which projects to complete. There’s a lot kids of … [Read more...]
Podcasts have a funny side
I walk every morning for about an hour and twenty minutes and while I walk I listen to podcasts. I'm never without those white little buds in my ears. My first choice is "Morning Joe," not only for its talk about the daily news but for its editorialization of the news. And that can be pretty funny. Since 2007, "Morning Joe" has been a weekday talk show that airs every morning on MSNBC. It stars former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, who has been Scarborough's wife since 2018, and Willie Geist, who also hosts the "Sunday Sitdown" podcast. They discuss the news of the day along with a panel of experts who offer additional insight. Some panelists include journalists Jon Meacham, John Heilemann, Nicolle Wallace, Eugene Robinson, and Robert Costa. The show has earned consistently good ratings over the years, in part due to the ever-revolving "Morning Joe" cast members who pop in from time to time. Joe is the funny guy, while Mika and Willie play the straight … [Read more...]
Read all about it: psychic predicts love in Europe
I am so glad to welcome Linda Jämsén to Choices during her WOW! Women on Writing Book Blog Tour for: Odyssey Of Love: A Memoir of Seeking & Finding Linda's story about how she found love while living in Europe is fascinating especially since her new-found love was predicted by a psychic. This story especially intrigued me because I have a similar one. During my single days I had many boyfriends but no one I wanted to settle with. One day I encountered a psychic on the Santa Monica pier and decided to consult her. I'll never forget her words: "Someone will come from far away and make you very happy." Of course it turned out that that someone became my future husband who indeed made me very happy. Now on to Linda's love story: How a Visit to a Psychic Changed My Life by Linda Jämsén Recently, I learned that my psychic friend, Angelica, had died. As I grieve this loss, I’m remembering how initially I’d been reluctant to meet her and have her peer into the … [Read more...]
Keeping my son’s memory alive
Today is the twenty-second anniversary of the suicide death of my older son Paul. And as is my tradition to visit his gravesite on his death day and birthday every year, I will go to Hillside Cemetery in Culver City, CA this afternoon. Until my husband Bob died last November, we always went to visit Paul’s grave together. The first time I went alone was on Paul’s birthday, last December 31. When Paul died, Bob and I disagreed about what to do with his body. I wanted him buried and in place close by so I could visit his grave. Bob wanted him cremated – which wasn’t very usual for Jewish people. The rabbi we consulted said we could do anything we wanted, so we chose both. He was cremated and buried, which served us both very well. Isn’t it interesting that I have recently moved to a place that is about a two-minute drive away? Visiting Paul’s gravesite on his birthday and death day every year is just to make me feel better. I don’t believe he knows or would even care that I’m there. … [Read more...]
Does a new year mean a new life?
This is a little bit of a tough time for me. It is just past the Jewish High Holidays and, on September 23 it will be twenty-two years since my son Paul took his life. And that my husband Bob died in this past year doesn't help. There was not a lot of praying I could do to help make things better. I'll just have to go on living my life as it is. I recently finished the book, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, which brought to mind a lot memories about how I've lived my life and the choices I made along the way. In the book, the main character, Nora Seed, decides to end her young life, but she ends up at a half-way point - the midnight library - where she gets a chance to experience other lives she could have lived instead. The goal was for her to pick one and therefore choose to keep living. It turns out she wakes up in a hospital and goes on living the life she had before her suicide attempt, but with a more positive outlook about what she can do personally and for work. … [Read more...]
September 11 – twenty years ago
September is always a sad month for me – the anniversary of our son’s death on September 23, 1999 and the anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11, 2001. Tomorrow it will be twenty years since suicide terrorists piloted planes to crash into the twin towers in New York City. If you've not been to the memorial there, I urge you to go. Flight 93 was headed to destroy our nation's Capitol also on September 11. Paul Murdoch and a team at his Los Angeles firm, Paul Murdoch Architects created National Memorial’s Tower of Voices to mark the site in Western Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 struck the earth on that morning, the passengers voted to take over the plane and divert it from destroying the Capitol. Everyone onboard was killed. An architectural rendering for “The Tower of Voices,” designed by Paul Murdoch Architects, in collaboration with a team of engineers, acousticians and one composer. (bioLINIA / Paul Murdoch Architects ) The tower is outfitted with … [Read more...]
Finally all settled in
A few more poems about how my life is going since I moved. And I'm happy to say the final boxes have been unpacked, the stuff has been all put away, and the last piece of furniture - a chair and ottoman - has been recovered and moved in. Now I have no more excuses for not getting my writing work done. I’ve been stalling Lallygagging over breakfast Reading the next Old New Yorker From my pile, Reading the news, Taking the trash out, Filing away last month’s Journal entries into My secret folder. Finally here I am Writing my daily Ten-minute poem Which stinks, by the way. And is much too short And void of meaning Or details. But still I keep my fingers moving The advice I got early on When I didn’t have An idea in my head To write about. I must be getting religious I bought a kosher Mezuzah scroll To fill the empty Mezuzah We bought in Israel. I never knew it was missing We just put it up in our old house Thinking it was a blessing. So I found the scroll on … [Read more...]
Creating a new outlook
I've been at my new living quarters just over two months, and I'm still struggling to adjust, meet people, and learn to be happy in these new surroundings. At a recent writing group, we wrote to a quote from the novel, Anna Karenina, about happiness: Happy families are all alike. An unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. I decided to expand on that a bit. Here's what I wrote: With due respect to Anna Karenina, I think unhappy people are unhappy in their own way as well. Except that we create our own unhappiness. We cannot blame others for how we feel. "Only if we accept what is, can we be happy" – according to the est training book of aphorisms. So I get up every morning now thinking this day will be better, this day I’ll feel happy, and for sure by the end of the day, I’m disappointed. It was a day like all the rest. Lonesome, uninteresting, unexciting. Maybe it’s because the place where I now live has shut all group activities down. People can’t eat together, have group … [Read more...]
