August 28, 2023 Friends, are you anxious to leave a legacy in this world? Something that keeps your essence alive for your descendants, and for the unborn generations that won’t have the pleasure of knowing you before you check out? You could freeze your body ( or just your head), so if medical…

August 8, 2023 Is it a surge or an uptick? A brief blip on the radar or — like thicker-than-normal corn husks, halos around the moon, and other folklore — an omen of a hard winter ahead? Whatever it’s called, we’re seeing an increase in Covid. The CDC doesn’t track cases anymore but…

July 21, 2013 Though I’m busy writing stories and editing other people’s work, I’m always looking for ways to fill the gaps in my retirement. Luckily, I have one talent that (unlike my body) never gets old: I am a highly experienced Worrier. This syndrome appears in many forms, like the did I’s…

June 7, 2023 I sure wish people would stop slinging unsolicited life advice at me. The other day an email from one of my medical providers breathlessly urged me to “Tap Into the Benefits of Mindfulness.” When I was a kid, being mindful meant “Mind your manners,” or “Mind your mother!” (On the…

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, women organized to make abortion pills available in states where the procedure was suddenly banned. Sally, the main character in my short story “ Contraband,” is a member of one such group. Her commitment to the cause is shaken by a close call with the law, but then she’s asked to help a young woman who has a drug habit and an abusive partner as well as an unwanted pregnancy.

May 2, 2023 A place I didn’t expect to be this week: at the drugstore for a second round of updated Covid booster, which the CDC recommends if you’re over 65 or have a weakened immune system. …

April 10, 2023 One Sunday morning about fifty years back, I woke up in my dorm room sick to my stomach, with a bad case of the runs besides. Luckily, the student health service at the University of Michigan was only a few blocks away. The doctor was middle-aged, with a grey brush…

March 31, 2023 Design © Janet Stevenson If you’re a zealous coffee drinker, you probably have a favorite mug like my new one above, made of ceramic and memories. The image shows a sunset reflected in the waters of Eastern Lake, one of the rare and beautiful coastal dune lakes in and around…

March 4, 2023 I am a blogger and I am writing about Ron DeSantis. More specifically: about how one of Ron Desantis’s allies wants to force bloggers to register with the state of Florida if they write about Ron DeSantis. As Dave Barry, one of the all-time great Floridians, would say: “I am…