Not in central Texas, it ain’t. — Big Earl often spends a few morning hours with us. It keeps Ella occupied and creates a little space for me to do things that don’t involve a ball. At least when Earl and Ella run from the pool to head indoors and jump on the couch I think that’s…

To blame your parents for everything. I’ll allow exceptions for bad genetics; I’d be pissed off permanently too. And if you have a personality disorder, those roots run deep and true happiness can be elusive. Still, living your life in bitterness about it can’t be very good for you. Having…

You think up a tagline for this. I’d like to say this is something someone has said to me at one time or another, but my daughter reads this so we’ll just avoid all that, mkay? I imagine it goes without saying that this article is full of sexual content…

How are you? We all know about compassion fatigue, the exhaustion that can come from being an empathizer, a caregiver, a rescuer, a front-line worker. It can come from anywhere, really, when you’ve just been caringly exposed to too damn much. It’s part of why graduate training in psychology can…

A mild case, anyway. Wikipedia tells us there may be dice in the background of this phrase, in use since at least the 14th century, perhaps referring to trying for the riskiest numbers (cinque and sice — are we here because of a bad translation?). “Anyone who tried for them…

And I use the term advisedly. Okay, kids, let’s back down a little. Just last night I exposed myself to the January 6th hearings and for the first time saw what was going on upstairs in the Capitol while the president’s seditious riot was taking place on the main floor…

What are yours? Note: I mention a few brands here. None of them pay me a thing, alas. In fact, I’m the one who pays them. Since the end of the 12th century, the theme of the mysterious grail has appeared in Western literature. It appears in various forms and…

Has COVID come for me? Like my eldest grandson and my husband before me, I’ve been having an apparent bad allergy attack: sneezing, stuffy, scratchy throat, headache, that feeling that you’ve taken water up the nose — you know. Plus, exhausted. I’ve mostly slept for three days now. And the…

I read the book, so you don’t have to. I don’t even remember what the heck book it was; I spent most of my first year of grad school watching TV and regretting my very existence. Much of this was because I did not major in psychology as an undergrad…