This week, I’m doing Kristine Hansen’s virtual spring break travel writing class. A big part of the class is a daily writing prompt about a travel topic. Today, we are to write about the emotional arc of a recent trip. For me, that was back to Ohio to see family and visit Lanterman’s Mill, a… [Read More]
Blog
Mickey Rooney died broke. Surprised? Don’t be.
Last week, long-time movie star Andy Rooney died, and USAToday reported that his estate was worth only $18,000 despite an 80-year career. You’d think it would be more, wouldn’t you? Mickey Rooney died broke. The low value was a combination of a relative who apparently took advantage of him, a string of divorces, studio practices that… [Read More]
Nominal prices, real prices, and the minimum wage
Recently, a friend asked me for an explanation of inflation. Her children were asking about the minimum wage, and they wanted to know why prices had to go up, and she was stumped. Here’s an explanation; you can decide if it is simple enough. First, economists talk about “real” prices and “real” wages, which would… [Read More]
About my writing, and my turn with a blog hop.
Last week, the lovely and talented Marcia Layton Turner asked me to participate in a baton blog hop. The idea is that bloggers will post about their writing process, then introduce their readers to other bloggers they should know. Marcia’s specialty is ghostwriting; you’ve probably seen her books all the time without realizing that she was the… [Read More]
Empowerment, banning bossy, and a feminist manifesto
Last week, there was a little online dustup over a for-profit company that wanted volunteer labor; professional writers do not like that. The company is in the business of providing educational materials to empower girls, so that led to some interesting conversations about what that means. Then, this week, Sheryl Sandberg and the Girl Scouts… [Read More]
