Posted under: happy endings
This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to meet up with some new friends in the blogosphere–although in most cases it was our first meeting, it felt more like meeting an old friend because of our on-line conversations on each other’s blogs. Notorious Ph.D., Girl Scholar took me out to lunch at a fabulous vegetarian restaurant in L.A., Another Damned Medievalist consented to hang out with some of my crazy Baa Ram U. colleagues when she came to Colorado recently, Dr. Crazy drove through miles of road construction to meet with me last week in Ohio, and this week GayProf served up a few cocktails from his shaker and even cooked dinner for me at his house! (Here’s a photo of the little prezzie I bought him for his birthday, so if you’re ever in Midwestern Funky Town you can ask him to mix you up one of 7 classic cocktails, since you can see he’s got the recipes and the necessary equipment!) This blog has connected me with other bloggers and commenters I might never have run across in real life, and I’m so grateful to hear about your different experiences and perspectives.
I’ve also had the opportunity to see a lot of old friends in the last few months. I really appreciate having old friends more and more. I’ve moved around a fair amount in my adult life, but there are people in most regions of the country where I know I can hitch up Old Paint and pick up with them like I never moved away. Thanks to all of you who have met me for lunches or coffees, or who have hosted me in your homes in California, Ohio, and Michigan over the past several weeks–I’m really glad you’re all in my life, and I’m grateful that many of you read and comment here regularly, since it keeps us in touch! Continue Reading »
Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more reassuring to a woman with an unwanted pregnancy than hearing 
The Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing has a special exhibition called 
Howdy, cowgirls and dudes–here’s my long-overdue report on a conversation we had Friday afternoon, June 12 at the 
I’m back in vintage doll heaven in Michigan–and by “heaven,” I mean “my parents’ garage and the local antique malls.” (And by “antique malls,” I mean “somewhat better than garage sale stuff!”) So here’s a selection of the fun, freaky, and just plain “why?” that I came across today in just one booth in one antique mall. I apologize that some of the photos are a little blurry–I had to photograph some of these things through a glass case. Abundant pleasures await you! For example, next to the Eskimo doll is a Pepper doll with a crocheted dress in gold yarn with green trim. Lots more, and more of the weird, on the flip!
My memories of childhood seem to revolve around the woods–I grew up in a land of mixed fields and forests that were slowly being converted into the outer edge of a city suburb, and in the 1970s and 1980s, there were still large patches of forest surrounding my neighborhood. Riding bikes with friends to the edge of the woods, and then ditching the bikes for a walk into the unknown was how I spent my summers from ages 8 to 12. Visiting Ohio and Michigan again this summer has given me an opportunity to reconnect with this familiar landscape. I live now in Colorado, which sounds more glamorous to most people, with its 14,000 foot peaks, sweeping vistas of the Rocky Mountains, powder snow, and cloudless blue skies, but I miss the woods and rolling hills of the North American East and Midwest. 
We’re road trippin’–and with respect to Jeff Tweedy (”