writing
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THE HUNT IS EVERYTHING
I started collecting shells when I was six. I’ve gathered Conches from Bondi and Volutes from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Cowries from Fiji, Scallops from Spain, and Whelks from the Gulf Coast of Florida. There are also Puka shells from the north shore of Oahu (where I almost drowned), Moon snails from Cape… Read more
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HAVE I STAYED TOO LONG AT THE FAIR?
Vince Lombardi famously said, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” Turns out that’s not exactly true. Research shows we stay far, too long in our jobs, relationships and friendships and it doesn’t serve us well. It keeps us connected to people that no longer reflect who we are and keeps us away from those… Read more
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THE UPSIDES OF GOING DOWNHILL
I’m gonna smack the next person who tells me, “You’re only as old as you feel.” That is the single, stupidest thing I’ve heard in the last 20 years. If you knew how I really felt, you’d wonder how the hell I was still above ground!! AND…on the days when I DO feel young, folks… Read more
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DO YOU PREVARICATE?
Lies come in many colors. While ‘little white lies’ are harmless, others are more nefarious. There are the ‘true blue’ ones which are mostly but not completely true like, “I have horsed around with kids,” which coach Jerry Sandusky said when first accused of child abuse; the ‘red hot,’ ones, like “I can make you… Read more
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NOW YOU SEE IT
I still remember every, single one of those metal staples being pulled out of me by pliers. That was just the surface pain. Underneath was a gut-wrenching trauma. As my surgeon breezily explained, “It’s brutal. I make a 10-inch incision across your knee and remove your knee cap. Then I saw your leg in half,… Read more
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SQUABBLE OR SCRABBLE?
Lately, my couples have been going after each other like these quail; their beaks moving fast and furiously to get the last seed— or word— in. Sometimes, I remove myself from the jabber and just listen. Two sentiments between multiple partners have repeated themselves over and over. They bear noting: 1. “You should know… how… Read more
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TRUST IS EVERYTHING
This buck won’t drink outside my window unless he feels safe. He knows I’m here and stares at me to be sure I don’t move. I don’t. After days of this, he has come to trust it here and now drinks every night at the same time. But trust takes time and it starts with… Read more
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NOT ENOUGH
Recently, Khloe Kardashian, 41, announced what she has done–so far–to make herself more beautiful: nose job, laser hair removal, chin implant, lip fillers, Botox, salmon sperm-facials, (yup) and soft-wave laser planing to tighten her skin. One wonders what more she’ll have done, or have to re-do, by the time she’s my age. The example she… Read more
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PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM
I spend many hours here as my fingers tease melodies out of the keys. Listening to the piano over my lifetime has connected it with so many events that my experience of it has become emotional. Science says that each time I listen, the moments press a sustain pedal in my brain, making the experience… Read more
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WHAT’S WRONG WITH A LITTLE ATTENTION?
In my youth, I was shy and hugely concerned about what others thought. During my first year in college, a professor asked me a question and my reply was so soft that he couldn’t hear my answer. When the guy behind me repeated what I had just said for me, I figured it was time… Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 