We’re into the second decade of the 21st Century and gender issues are all over the news—again. This time the issue is a redux/re-thinking of the recent, and logical, determination that trans students can use the bathrooms assigned to their gender identity. The old requirement that everyone must stick to the “facts” as stated on their birth certificate is returning, this time wrapped in a states rights argument meant to undermine the federal Title 9 mission of equality for ALL students. This new controversy inspired me to think about the rigid gender roles in fiction. The pink & blue divide
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Mourning Brain
Mourning Brain NOT Morning Brain… Morning brain is inventive, intuitive, full of images from last night’s dreams and, possibly, in desperate need of coffee. MOURNING brain is confused. Even after my dad died, I didn’t quite understand the concept of MOURNING, but now that my mom has been gone for months I’ve come to realize that mourning is a powerful experience, capable of overshadowing everything else. I am not functioning at my best. My dreams are filled with odd references to the past and my waking hours are filled with lists of things that must get done ASAP and all
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It’s a Secret!
Can you keep a secret? Some people are lock boxes, secured repositories of their friends’ darkest secrets. Others can’t let a juicy piece of gossip pass them by. I’m pretty good at keeping secrets. People tell me things—although I’m careful to warn them that I’m a story vampire and will use what they tell me as fiction fodder—if it’s truly a secret, I zip my lips. Secrets—family, business, and state—are compelling hooks for stories. When a protagonist goes on a quest to unearth a secret, he or she can open a Pandora’s Box and discover that deception runs deep in
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Precious Objects
Lately, I’ve spent a great deal of time pondering what makes some objects precious and others not. Great literature, mythology, and fairy tales often hang stories around a precious thing. Some are magical, others are symbolic, and many are both. The gilded, crystal bowl in Henry James’ ‘The Golden Bowl’ is the perfect symbol of the imperfect relationships of the characters. It has a fatal flaw. Excalibur is both the symbol of legitimate sovereignty and an object with magical powers. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Gollum and his “precious” ring in ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ Clearing
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The Jury’s Point-of-View
From the first row of the jury box, you could see the fabulous socks & shoes worn by the defense attorney. Unfortunately, I was seated in the back row. Over and over again in my notes (on a pad that never left the courtroom and with pages shredded after the conclusion of the trial) I scribbled variations on the concept of point-of-view. During deliberations, the juror to my right asked me what my POV boxes meant. She laughed at my answer, but smiled in recognition of reality. Everyone involved in that trial brought a POV filled to the brim with
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Playing 20 Questions
Remember 20 Questions? It was one of those “keep the kids busy during long car rides” games that has faded into memory as children stare at movies on tablets or play games on phones to kill time. I’ve revived 20 questions as part of my strategy as a volunteer in an English as a second language program that is based on a one-on-one conversation model. I started using it with my first conversation partner/student when I realized that she was prompting me to be the dominant speaker in our conversations and I was working hard to switch roles. As I
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Subway Story
He smiled at me and caught my eye as I stood a few minutes before the subway pulled into the Union Square station. “Have you ever seen so many people not look at one another?” I laughed. “Ever live in a small town or a place where people talk to one another?” He continued, looking me in the eye. “You don’t understand. This is how we create private space in a crowded city.” “So it’s a defensive thing?” “No, it’s a good thing. It’s just what we do.” He was cute and his smile was wonderful, but he misread the
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Alone with My Thoughts
Sometimes it’s great to disconnect. No smartphone, no laptop, no streaming video, no TV, not even a radio tuned to a local station. There’s so much stimulation, so much information, competing media, and constant communications, that being out-of-the-loop is a pleasure. It’s also essential to creativity. It’s why so many people get great ideas in the shower. It’s a place & time of enforced disconnection. That’s why, as sat in the sauna at the gym, my mind wandered to a new twist for the end of a short story. The ‘empty time’ was inspiring, because there was nothing else going
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