I began to dread the treatments, but my skin was looking good
When I called my skin care specialist to schedule a microdermabrasion, I asked her if there were any treatments for the wrinkles that were deepening around my mouth.
I’m in my late sixties and reconciled to the fact that various body parts are starting to slacken and droop. It’s no big deal. I’m energetic and fit and enjoying this post-menopausal stage, for the most part.
But a love of sunshine and outdoors has not only resulted in three skin cancers that were luckily only skin deep. Years of sun exposure have done their damage to my fair complexion.
I wanted…
Women of child-bearing age should not drink alcohol, says WHO
I have just watched Season 4 of the Handmaid’s tale, the story of a dystopian future in which fertile women are enslaved to have babies for the powerful men in Gilead, the new society that replaced the United States. Fertility rates have dropped dramatically due to environmental factors, and procreation becomes the major role of the Handmaids.
In one episode, vegan Handmaids are forced to eat meat and butter so they will have a better chance of conceiving and having healthy babies. And of course they aren’t allowed to consume alcohol, because they are birthing machines.
I couldn’t help thinking…
Humor
“We are trying to make the experience more authentic”
Facebook shocked and angered thousands on the social network platform this week when it decided to purge the friend list of everyone who isn’t a “real friend.”
“My friends went from, like, 600 to 30,” Monica Braveheart complained after discovering her news feed had no “feed.”
“There was, like, nothing there. WTF were they thinking?”
People addicted to the Facebook notification button indicating that someone has “liked” or commented on a post have reportedly been wandering around in a daze. …
Satire
The final blow to the pro-peach crowd was a simple emoji
After the school board in Morris County, New Jersey, voted to remove holiday names from its academic calendar, the Georgia General Assembly went to work and voted to remove certain state symbols.
“We are taking our cues from New Jersey, and we are removing anything that might offend, enrage, or hurt anyone’s feelings,” said the House Speaker.
An obvious starting point was Georgia’s state bird, the Brown Thrasher.
“We believe a focus on color is ruining our schools and we will not tolerate it in our state symbols,” the Speaker said, eliciting cheers and high fives from parents who oppose…
Jesus doesn’t care about our gold cross necklaces and our “Jesus Saves” bumper stickers
It used to puzzle me that Jesus would curse a tree. According to the biblical account, he was hungry and spotted a fig tree in the distance. The tree was full of leaves, but when Jesus drew closer, he discovered it didn’t have any figs.
“When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.” (Mark 11:13, NIV)
Jesus did something then that seemed very un-Jesus-like. He cursed the tree. The next morning, he and his disciples passed that way again. They spotted the cursed tree, which caused Peter to exclaim in surprise,
…
Truth Roopa Vikesh, I'm beyond flattered and humbled that you would choose to read so many of my stories and write about them. You are an amazing friend and I appreciate your kind words more than I can say. And did I ever tell you my daughter-in-law was a dentist, too?
Money is good, but so are other things
A lot of people write about how much money they earn on Medium. Some have quit their jobs and made Medium their full-time career.
Kudos to them, but that isn’t me. When I first joined, I didn’t know you could make money. Medium had just started rolling out the partner program, opening earning potential to anyone who paid $5 instead of paying only an elite few.
I was thrilled and surprised when I earned my first $12.
Since then, I’ve done better than I expected. …
We can try to rationalize things away, but is it rational to discount the experiences of thousands of people?
Twin toddlers Zach and Chandler were babbling in their own private language as they played on the kitchen floor next to their mother.
They directed their conversation toward an “imaginary.”
“Who is your friend?” Their mother asked, always fascinated to see what her children conjured up in their imaginations.
“We’re playing with our sister, Sally, who lives in heaven,” Chandler replied.
Their mother experienced a momentary shock. She had never told them about their sister, Sally, the child who died as an infant. She had never spoken to anyone about this other child; the one she lost years ago.
My…
Humor
Amazon makes things too easy
Amazon is going to ban my husband, and that’s why I need him to stay away from my Amazon Prime account. He will get me banned, too.
As soon as he said, “The hardhat I ordered sits on top of my head like a beanie cap,” I knew what was coming.
“You’re returning the hardhat?” I tried not to sound alarmed.
“It looks like I’m wearing an inverted mixing bowl,” he said before heading off to the UPS store, which is conveniently located .8 of a mile from our house.
Amazon makes things too easy. You don’t have to box…
Some women give men more credit, attention, and respect
My husband went on a two-day fly-fishing trip, so this is one of the very few nights he isn’t home.
It also happens my sister is out of town. Her daughter whisked her off to a weekend bed and breakfast for her birthday. Since my sister drops by frequently and unexpectedly, her absence and my husband’s absence left me in a sort of limbo. What would I do?
Plenty, as it turns out.
I decided to spend the morning taking pictures for a News Break story and the afternoon working in the yard. …
