The Barbie doll was introduced in 1959 as an adult doll to serve as a role model for little girls. Up until that time girls primarily played with baby dolls as their staple toys. Later-born baby boomers grew up with Barbie as the doll used to act out adult female roles in their play. This […]
Iconic A: Audre Lorde and Audrey Hepburn
The depth and breadth of Iconic Femininity is perfectly illustrated by the letter A. Audre Lorde and Audrey Hepburn lived impressive lives and both became icons what it is to be a woman. Neither were women with which to trifle. Audrey Hepburn As a youth in the Netherlands in World War II Audrey Hepburn developed […]
Women Who Left Us in 2017
We lost so many strong, even iconic, women in 2017. And so many of them received little to no public media attention in this year of seemingly non-stop discussion about men. Maggie Roche, of the Roche Sisters, left us at age 65 in January. Here’s the NYT article briefly chronicling her music career. Mary Tyler […]
When Christmas is Sad
My Take on Holiday Sadness A huge hurt builds inside me. My father died on Christmas Day 1986. It is a familiar, old hurt. This past year freshly layered that hurt with new hurts and loss. All four of my brothers have passed on. One in 1998, another in 2005. Mom died in […]
Christmas Music
We all have our favorite music. But when it comes to Holiday music, I have found that people have very strong preferences. I have seen perfectly innocuous Gene Autry Christmas compilations drive 20-somethings up the wall after a mere two play-throughs. Alvin […]
Who Needs Excitement When There Is Synchronicity
Sometimes when a task has become familiar through repetition, it is difficult to be excited by it, no matter how much fun or benefit will come from completing the task. That is where I was a in the couple days prior to finally prepping and packing to drive on my solo road trip to the mid-west and […]