While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in...
Thinking About Death
While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in a recent late-night phone call that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. (To preserve my brother’s [...]
Pat Taub
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What My Mask Hides
GUEST POST by CAROLE LESKIN One of my favorite songs is the 1954 Nat King Cole rendition of “Smile.” As a little girl, I remember my father playing it, smiling, and softly singing along. He was melancholy and rarely smiled. I had discovered his secret side! I inherited my father’s temperament with one distinct difference: [...]
Pat Taub
First We Weep & Then We Hit the Streets
I’ve been crying off and on since Friday night when these words lit up my laptop screen: RUTH BADER GINSBURG DIES! I screamed at my computer, “No! No! No!” It felt like the world was coming to an end, or at least US democracy. In short order my iPhone was ablaze with text messages from grief-stricken friends and family. The next [...]
Pat Taub
Unsettling News Stories, A Good Read, Fall Arrives & More!
Unsettling News Stories Lately reading the news inserts me into the Beatles song, “I read the news today, oh boy.” One disturbing report after another, the latest is the forced hysterectomies of women in an ICE detention center in Georgia. If it weren’t for brave whistleblower, Dawn Wooten, a nurse at the center, we might never have [...]
Pat Taub
The Book of Old Ladies – Celebrating Women of A Certain Age in Fiction
GUEST POST by KRISTINE NICHOLSON It’s about time women of a certain age get some respect in this world!!!! The Book of Old Ladies: Celebrating Women of A Certain Age in Fiction is an important catalyst in kick-starting this process. It takes a fresh look at the way women are expected to live as they age. This book stares boldly into [...]
Pat Taub
What I Miss About Shopping
Months of COVID isolation without the option to shop left me examining my shopping habits. Over time it became clear that my shopping was spurred on by a consumer driven reflex, and not because I needed any more clothes. I realized what I miss more than purchasing a cheap Chanel knock-off are my shopping companions. Shopping for me, like for [...]
Pat Taub
Banksy’s Newest Project, Granddaughter Jane, A Netflix Series & More!
Banksy to the Rescue We all need good news these days: Banksy to the rescue, both literally and spiritually! Banksy is famous for sneaking into urban spaces and leaving behind politically themed murals. This time he’s decorated a pink motor yacht in order to rescue migrants making the perilous passage to Europe from North Africa. I love [...]
Pat Taub
Walking with New Eyes
I was driving myself crazy over the prospect of Trump winning re-election, turning our country into a fully-fledged Fascist nation where hate rules. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t shake my doomsday thinking. I was desperate for a way out, a path to quell my anxiety. An answer presented itself in the form of Alexandra Horowitz’s [...]
Pat Taub