Bill Murray at his best: Happy Groundhog Day!

Another day, another negative Italian-American stereotype. This latest one comes from Verizon. The commercial featuring the “Collurio” Family depicts an open-shirted, heavily-accented blue-collar guy in full-on “fugeddaboudit” mode, hosting a barbecue for his extended family of trashy, overly-dolled-up women and greasy-haired men. Imagine if this had been a barbecue filled with African-Americans wearing large goldRead more about Et tu, Verizon?[…]

…8 babies at once? Seriously?? Yesterday, a woman in Southern California gave birth to octuplets, only the second set to be born in the United States. (The first set of octuplets were born in 1998 in Texas, but one died within a week of its birth.) So far, all of the babies are alive andRead more about Every child is a blessing, but…[…]

Although I do believe that there is life after death, I’m usually skeptical of folks who say they can “speak” with the dead–especially when they capitalize off of it with books and television shows. Nevertheless, I took a book out of the library recently that was really fascinating: When Ghosts Speak: Understanding the World ofRead more about Book review: When Ghosts Speak[…]

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. Forty-four Americans have nowRead more about A New Day[…]

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech….it still gives me goosebumps, no matter how many times I hear it.

My friend Cindy recently got me hooked on Netflix (thanks, CC!) and I’ve been discovering some really sweet movies that I’d never even heard of before. Once such movie: Lucky Seven, starring Patrick Dempsey and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. It’s definitely one of those fluff, romantic chick flicks that will send most men screaming from the room.Read more about Lucky Seven: a brief movie review[…]

Busy busy busy…blogging has taken a bit of a back seat, but the good news is, my writing off-line has been going well. Still plugging away on the book, and picked up a couple of paying article assignments along the way. I’m also gearing up for another big cruise in February; we sail in lessRead more about Coming up for air[…]

That’s what I call when I take down the Christmas decorations at home: de-Christmisfying the house. I’m almost done. Everything is packed up except the tree and the ornaments. Not sure why, but I got into the Christmas spirit early this year…and got out of it pretty quick, too.

I’ve finally decided to give myself the kick-in-the-ass I needed, so I’m participating in a January Challenge at my online writer’s group. This month, I’m going to do my edits and rewrites to the novel guerilla-style, setting a goal of 7 pages a day from now until January 31st. At that rate, by the endRead more about Jump-starting the novel[…]