portiabpennington.blogspot.com
One Writer's Beginnings: July 2013
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Monday, July 29, 2013. I Am a Stupid American. You, in your proudly arrogant, non-American, wisdom have pronounced me so. At first I was offended. I bristled not on my own behalf, but on the behalf of others, my own dear fellow Americans. The old I-can-say-it-but-woe-unto-anybody-else-that-does kind of playground call to battle that has made the blood boil of many a sometimes misguided family member. I am the stupid American who said hello, it's so nice to meet yo...
portiabpennington.blogspot.com
One Writer's Beginnings: November 2014
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Tuesday, November 25, 2014. At this moment, on this planet, there are only twelve people who know exactly how the decision not to indict a Missouri police officer in the death of a Missouri teenager was made. Twelve. Today my mind is on these twelve. An indictment. For this moment I am not thinking of the possible flaws in our system. Today my mind is on the twelve. And suddenly I was nervous. Really nervous. A man had died from a knife wound on a street i...We we...
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One Writer's Beginnings: October 2014
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Thursday, October 9, 2014. Just Hitting our Stride. Oh, so many years ago when I naively toed the line and bolted in response to the gun blast that ushered in the frenetic race of my reproductive years, who could have guessed I had finally found an athletic event at which I could perform? I was young. I could handle five birthday parties a year. No problem. Put my head down, keep my eyes blearily focused on the eighteen inches of road right in front of...Less than...
portiabpennington.blogspot.com
One Writer's Beginnings: August 2013
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Tuesday, August 27, 2013. He Could Have Been My Son. And he was shot in the back. He could have been one of my son's teammates, most of whom also hail from foreign lands. Canada, Colombia, France, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Taiwan.each one of them beautiful in his own, unique way. On any given afternoon each one likely to be running or walking down an ordinary American road, and on his mind.what? He could have been my son. George, Chris and. They all are our sons....
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One Writer's Beginnings: June 2015
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Thursday, June 18, 2015. Bright Shining as the Sun. Wednesday night in the south is church night- the most casually unscientific observer would know this fact by simple osmosis. Church parking lots are full, church windows ablaze, perhaps church doors are propped open. Wednesday night is church night- I've heard and said it so often it sounds like the chorus of an old familiar hymn. In Charleston, S.C., church night became the night for slaughter. Pastor Hale call...
portiabpennington.blogspot.com
One Writer's Beginnings: January 2013
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Tuesday, January 8, 2013. Dear Family and Friends: A Thank You Note. Twenty-five years ago, on a bitter cold and snowy January day, I was at 104 Mildred Court in Richmond, Kentucky with a strange creature about whom I knew nothing. Last Saturday that terrifying little bundle married her very own cowboy. Handmade lanterns with individually rendered bride-created tags, and the list goes on. It was a virtual Martha Stewart festival of crafting opportunities- with...
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One Writer's Beginnings: April 2013
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Something Bookish This Way Comes. Seventeen years ago I wrote a letter to Ray Bradbury. Lo and behold, he wrote me back. That fact, and the resulting epistle (which still hangs on my wall) will forever be a major "wow" moment in my life. My current correspondence consisted of twenty exchanges with twenty folks I have never met wherein I handed them a copy of Bradbury's very own Fahrenheit 451. When I clicked on the list of books. Chosen ...
portiabpennington.blogspot.com
One Writer's Beginnings: October 2013
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Wednesday, October 16, 2013. Miley Mania, Steinem Style. According to Huffington Post. Ever the arbiter of all things considered intelligent and urbane, or at least easily digested in a five-second e-mail check), when Gloria Steinem speaks a mere seven or eight sentences on a topic, we, the passive, mind-numbingly stupid public must consider said subject hereafter closed. Gloria Steinem does not think for me or for any woman or man I know. But I disagree with Ms&#...
portiabpennington.blogspot.com
One Writer's Beginnings: Just Hitting our Stride
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Reading, Writing, and a Little Bit More. Thursday, October 9, 2014. Just Hitting our Stride. Oh, so many years ago when I naively toed the line and bolted in response to the gun blast that ushered in the frenetic race of my reproductive years, who could have guessed I had finally found an athletic event at which I could perform? I was young. I could handle five birthday parties a year. No problem. Put my head down, keep my eyes blearily focused on the eighteen inches of road right in front of...Less than...
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