Stereotypical Characters I was reading a book the other night and the author — in order to elicit sympathy for the hero — painted the mother-in-law as an extremely annoying … bitch. No other way to say it. It got me thinking about mother-in-laws and how they always seem to draw the short straw. You…
What My Animals Teach Me About Writing. There are thousands of books for sale that offer advice on writing, but I don’t buy any of them. I have all the advice I need right here on the animal sanctuary. There is nothing like several dozen animals to teach you about … well … damn near…
A Kiss is Just a Kiss Or so states the line from As Time Goes By the song made immortal when Dooley Wilson sang it for Ingrid Bergman in the movie Casablanca. While a kiss might be just a kiss most of the time, there are special kisses. I bet you remember your first kiss, and…
Dante and Luigi Have you ever been reading the book and you wondered why a particular character was in there? One of the most important things in writing is to make sure that each character has a purpose. You can’t just put characters in to fill space; they have to have a reason for being…
Substance Abuse Addiction and substance abuse affect almost every family in the country. If you don’t have someone in your family afflicted, or a relative, chances are you know someone. Growing up I didn’t realize this. Back then it was the kind of thing that was kept hidden. That uncle who was so hilarious was…
How to Get Your Time Back Writers often struggle with time management, unsure how to manage the delicate balance between work, writing, social media, and family — so many things to do. And when there are so many things to do, there is something on the list that you really hate. But it’s not just writers…
Life is Full of Surprises My mother wasn’t the smartest person in the world. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t even “not intelligent,” but she would never wow anyone with her fierce intelligence. She wasn’t the funniest person either. She had a sense of humor, but in our family her humor always…
Early memories The other day I thought of a fond memory from back when I was ten years old. I was helping my Aunt Rose tend to her rose garden, and we were chatting about a lot of things, then, out of the blue, she said, “Life is like a rosebush, Jibbo.” (She always called…
Life on the Sanctuary About ten years ago we decided we couldn’t accept any more animals on our sanctuary. We were up to 29 and that was taxing both our physical and financial resources. It takes a lot of work to care for so many animals — feeding, watering, tending to fences, cleaning barns, and…
Best Investment I Ever Made I have not done very well with investments. I always seem to be late to the party, or leaving when I should stay. As an example, I sold my Apple stock back in 1994. I try to forget the per-share price, but my wife keeps reminding me. And every time…