Too Much of a Gentleman

Here I am in 1976. I was 13 years old and in the eighth grade. From ages 9 to 12 I had been somewhat vaguely aware of the Watergate scandal, not because it was interesting (the long summer of the Watergate hearings made for very boring television), but because, from the adults all around me, … Continue reading →

I Feel Like a Plain-Bellied Sneetch

While there are many reasons throughout my life for my feeling like the proverbial “fish out of water” one of the more interesting is the fact that I was born on the cusp of two wildly disparate generational cohorts. While I am technically a Baby Boomer, I only qualify by mere months. As a result, … Continue reading →

The Power of We

Colossians 3:12-14 English Standard Version (ESV) 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all … Continue reading →

The Age of Aquarius – Really?

In 1970, I was seven years old, and a singing group called, (Huey, n.d.), was about the coolest thing that a little black girl from Terre Haute, Indiana could see on television. Back then, it was rare to see non-white Americans on TV (or just about anywhere else for that matter) so when a group … Continue reading →

You’re No Dr. Spock

The Quora Chronicles – Part 9 Perhaps the beauty of the internet is that it provides people from all over the world to share ideas and to seek advice from one another. Sometimes, however, I have to shake my head in disbelief at the type of questions asked. There seem to be an alarming number … Continue reading →

What’s the Point of Conversation?

The Quora Chronicles – Part 8 Many times, when questions like this one appear in my “Asked to Answer” notifications on Quora I find myself wondering about the person who asked the question and why they asked it. Is this person simply shy, anti-social, or a Millennial or Gen Z who communicates mostly through social … Continue reading →

The Land of the Free?

The Quora Chronicles – Part 7 “Are there any scholarships for learning English?” Because my Quora profile identifies me as an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor and I am active in many ESL discussions, I am often “Asked to Answer” this type of question.  Actually, this is one of the more tactful and … Continue reading →

“Stop Eyeballing Me, Boy!”

The Quora Chronicles – Part 6 Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. made history as the first Black American to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Marine Corp Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film, “An Officer and a Gentleman.” One of Foley’s most memorable lines comes when Richard Gere’s character first … Continue reading →