Watch Your Language: How Do You Say Pecan?

Tags: communication, words

A lot of news channels before Thanksgiving featured some expert advising how to avoid dinner table fights coming out of this contentious election season. Since my family is like-minded, political debate wasn’t a problem–but we did quickly divide over other deep and stubbornly held habits: how to pronounce common words in American English. It started with the pecan pie. Is …

Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson: A Couple To Love

Tags: celebrity couples

Mary Steenburgen was born on February 8, 1953 in Newport, Arkansas. A fan of the stage from an early age, Steenburgen moved to New York City in 1972 to study acting and perform improvisational comedy. Steenburgen’s big break came when she was discovered by Jack Nicholson in the reception room of Paramount’s New York office and was cast as the …

A Christmas Angel Saved Our Cursed Town

Tags: Christmas

The phone rang four times before I could get to it. It was Elvira Matthews, the town busybody. “Did you hear about Cherry Lane?” she wanted to know. “No. I haven’t heard anything.” Cherry Lane was a senior at the Hartford Falls high school and the captain of the cheerleading squad. “She was in church on Sunday, but I didn’t …

4 Ways To Fall In Love…With Your Body

Tags: body, image, women

French writer and prominent feminist Simone de Beauvoir once said, “To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.” You might think picking on yourself and how you look is normal and perfectly fine, but once you start with your physical self, what’s stopping you from taking jabs at your personality or your intelligence? Nothing is off …

“I’m sorry, but he’s basically brain-dead. . . . ” It was my fault Jamie was lying so still and pale on the hospital bed, connected to a variety of tubes that kept his heart pumping and the oxygen circulating to his vital organs. I had not taken my ex husband seriously when he’d made threats to kill both Jamie …

“Claudia?” Startled, I looked up from the minutes of a deadly dull meeting I was typing into a word processing document. “We need your help in the reading room,” said my boss Frank. “Linda went home sick.” “Good,” I said, hastily saving and closing my document. “I mean–” Frank smiled. He really was a great boss. “I know what you …

7 Reasons Some Women Think They Won’t Find Love

Tags: love, never liked it anyway, relationship

No one should ever give up on finding love, it doesn’t matter if you are sixteen or one hundred and sixteen there is still the possibility of finding love and embracing it. Sadly, many women have been hurt and are afraid of falling in love again; they may have been searching for love with no success and have now reached …

After the Election, My Mystery Shopping Deluge

Tags: novel viewpoints, shopping

I’m not much of a holiday shopping fanatic, but I need something pleasant to anticipate after the end of this awful election season. So I’m beginning to put together my holiday book list for mystery lovers. Courtesy of Publishers Weekly, here are some ideas: I like the look of Steven Price’s By Gaslight, about two men combing London’s 1885 underworld …

If The Crown Fits, Watch It!

Tags: crown, netflix, queen

Netflix’s much-anticipated period drama The Crown has earned plenty of comparisons to Downton Abbey since its premiere on Nov. 4. Both shows tackle the changing tide in Great Britain’s caste system during the early and mid-20th century, but Downton Abbey is ultimately about a fictional aristocratic family, while The Crown follows the real-life accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Much of Elizabeth’s personal life is unknown to the public, …

Relationship Help: Why Do I Get So Upset with My Partner?

Tags: couple, fighting, ignoring

Q: I need some relationship help. While I love my husband with all my heart, sometimes it’s just so frustrating being married to him. When I feel that he’s ignoring me, I get so upset, and he’s usually surprised by the intensity of my reaction. Why do I get so upset with him? ~Lynn, Carlsbad CA A: Thanks for the question, …