It is late September here in North Texas, (and, I assume, in other places too), and the temperature has finally begun to cool down from the inferno-like heat of summer.  Even before the welcome arrival of autumnal air, you could tell that a change in season was imminent simply by entering a coffee shop or grocery store.  Wherever you look, you’re bombarded by the sight and smells of pumpkins: big, orange ones, weirdly shaped white ones, itty-bitty cute ones of varying hues, as well as suggestively… Read more »

Anyone who has witnessed the carnage that results from any “crafty” project that I have attempted, will testify that I am a horrible artist.  I took me 6 years to finally figure out how to create the Pilgrim bonnet that my girls wore at their pre-K’s annual Thanksgiving Feast! My drawings are on the sub-remedial level (stickmen!), and my painting is dauby at best. I can really only be trusted with coloring books and Lego sets.  Despite this aesthetic handicap – and as a distraction… Read more »

“When angry, count to four. When very angry, swear.” Mark Twain. One of the more interesting results of the recent “Brexit” referendum was the outpouring of savage yet creative insults hurled by Twitter users towards Donald Trump. It was encouraging to see such a dazzling display of wordplay and literary entrepreneurism.  As a British expat, it was heartening to see that the ancient Anglo-Saxon talent for obscenity is far from a figment of our distant medieval past. Much to my (American) husband’s chagrin,… Read more »

I think we can all agree that the current political climate has become surreal to the point of absurd.  While the Democratic party is still squabbling over who will ultimately become their nominee, the Republican party has essentially surrendered whatever dignity they had to the bombastic bluster of Donald J Trump – a figure so cartoonish that his very existence seems like a punch line to an off-color joke. How did we get here?? Of late, I have read several op-ed pieces comparing our current political… Read more »

Generally speaking, I do not get very personal in my blog posts. I tend towards breezy intimation rather than Freudian analysis with regards to my early life.  Being British means never having to talk about “feelings,” or other embarrassingly messy things. We arm ourselves with sarcasm and alcohol to deflect horrifying “touchy-feely” confessions.  This Mother’s Day, however, I thought that I would toss aside my scratchy English bonnet for my jaunty US citizen’s baseball cap, and reminisce a little about my mother… Read more »