No Points For Style

Broken People in Baskets

By Adrienne, on September 3rd, 2010

I was 19 when I got my first full-time job as the teacher for a group of school age kids in a daycare center. It was summer and I took my class bowling a lot.

Those kids were weird, all wild for bowling. There weren’t enough lightweight balls to go around, so we spent . . . → Read More: Broken People in Baskets

Naked Eyes and Angst

By Adrienne, on August 31st, 2010

Trichotillomania [trik-uh-til-uh-mey-nee-uh]

tricho – hair till(ein) – to pluck or pull out mania – madness

When I have trouble writing, the cause is usually a story right behind my eyes that’s clogging up the works.

Not always; sometimes I just don’t have anything to say, but often, I’m gutless and full of . . . → Read More: Naked Eyes and Angst

Smells Like Hope

By Adrienne, on August 30th, 2010

The daytime temperatures here are still stretching into the nineties. We’re weeks away from shutting down the cooler, two months (at least) from firing up the furnace.

Yet there is a hint of fall in the air. The nights are cool; some of the leaves have begun to turn.

The children have all gone . . . → Read More: Smells Like Hope

The Lead In My Bones

By Adrienne, on August 27th, 2010

I am tired.

Weary.

I feel like my bones are filled with lead.

Do you remember when you were in college and the end of the semester was a wild rush and you studied worked wrote studied more took exams and then, after the last class, you went home and collapsed for a month? . . . → Read More: The Lead In My Bones

A Steady Diet of Drano and Gravel

By Adrienne, on August 26th, 2010

Do you know what’s making me very happy right now? Newspapers and television and magazines have backed off on the headlines that say,

American Children are Overmedicated by Selfish Parents for Their Own Convenience and American Childhood Is on a Highway to Hell and We Are All Doomed Because Parents Are Lazy and Have . . . → Read More: A Steady Diet of Drano and Gravel

Catching Up

By Adrienne, on August 25th, 2010

Every Monday for eight months, Susan has come to our house for the evening. Her official title is Behavioral Management Specialist. When we agreed to this service, I was reluctant. I didn’t think she could help us.

This is the one where I think I’m so damn smart that I’m pretty much a world . . . → Read More: Catching Up

Tattle Tale

By Adrienne, on August 24th, 2010

I took Brian to the doctor today.

Why? “I want you to keep me company,” says he, “and besides, I never remember what they tell me.”

Indeed, his memory is poor. Otherwise? He would know that I cannot resist my impulses to taunt, mock, tattle, tease, and in general be a giant pain-in-the-ass.

Seriously, . . . → Read More: Tattle Tale

Random Pee-er

By Adrienne, on August 23rd, 2010

Pssst…come close…a little closer. That’s good. Now listen carefully because I’m going to whisper this next part; you know how I hate to tempt the universe.

Things are good here. Like, freaky good. Awesome, even. All is quiet and lovely and about as peaceful as things have been in a year and a half.

. . . → Read More: Random Pee-er

Unclear On the Concept

By Adrienne, on August 21st, 2010

After I whined for awhile about being unable to think of anything to write about, Brian offered to interview me. “That’s kind of weird, don’t you think?” I asked. “I mean, I don’t really do the guest blog thing, and you don’t even like to write.”

“No, no,” says my beloved, “I’ll ask the . . . → Read More: Unclear On the Concept

Burdened

By Adrienne, on August 20th, 2010

My parents, my sister, Jacob, Abbie, and I got on a plane in Albuquerque and went to Seattle for Christmas, 1997. We needed to say goodbye to my grandma, my mom’s mom.

The journey there was epic. I’ll have to remember to tell you that story. My family? Not the world’s best travelers.

We . . . → Read More: Burdened