Jane Wilson's Blog
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May.18.2013
Two of my favorite characters are Miss Spinster and Judge I.M. Oldenbald. I like them because they wear the same clothes much of the time. Judge Oldenbald has lots of liver spots on his bald pate and smells musty. Miss Spinster teaches school. Their conversations are boring. Until Judge Oldenbald...
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18 comments
May.18.2013
There is a method to the madness that affects writers. It's recorded on crumbling papyrus and stored securely in a box that is padlocked, encased with chains and sealed with Gorilla Glue. For good measure, a wizard and a witch cast a magical spell that cannot be broken for several centuries.
A...
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8 comments
May.05.2013
Last weekend, I tried to write "The Torch Bearer." Tried, as in formatted and reformatted the original version countless times over the course of several hours, using two different word processing programs. Each time I previewed the copy I'd pasted to my Redroom page, all my...
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11 comments
May.02.2013
The tagline posted by a 67 year-old widower on an on-line dating site reads: "I will be a good gentle fiend."
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16 comments
Apr.27.2013
Yesterday I found a yellowed piece of paper interspersed with some old photos of the house I was forced to sell a few years ago and a single Polaroid from my one and only wedding. Sometime in the past 30 years, I tossed the paper in the box, where it remained, unfolded and unread. My...
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10 comments
Apr.20.2013
Mom relied on me to keep an eye on my brothers, who fought constantly. When she confiscated every toy that could be used as a weapon, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
When they were around 6 and 7, they pushed the living room furniture against the wall and spread a double bedsheet on the...
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25 comments
Apr.09.2013
Eva Lesko Natiello's recent post about Martha Stewart's legendary organizational skills reminded me of a story I heard from a resident of Seal Harbor, Maine, where Martha owns a home. According to the resident, Martha entered a shop in town and asked to use their telephone. The...
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11 comments
Apr.05.2013
I spent two summers in the Appalachian mountains in the late '70's. The first year, I sold passes to the tourists who drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Skyline Drive, where I greeted them from the tiny ranger station at the southern entrance. The second summer, I tooled around on a...
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17 comments
Apr.04.2013
I just finished reading, for the fourth time, Anne Lamott's very funny post about her year on Match.com. I waited a few days for the comments to accumulate, because I was interested in her readers' response.
Oops.
Here's the link: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/...
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Apr.03.2013
I lost 4 hours and 3 pages of the best writing I've done in my life yesterday. I told myself it's all still in there, and will be better in the next iteration, but this morning, I realize the moment has passed.
I've assembled and sorted the documents I need to prepare the...
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11 comments
Mar.28.2013
I've always jealously guarded my privacy and my daughter's. Now that she's an adult and is no longer my responsibility, I have no worries, whatsoever. I dare any parent to disagree that once our children are able to drink, drive, vote and enlist in the military, we are not only...
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4 comments
Mar.27.2013
NO one has ever used that term in reference to me, much less said it while looking into my eyes. Until today.
...
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12 comments
Mar.24.2013
"I'm learning to accept honest feedback on my writing," she says grinning.
"Your best writing is the stuff that's raw and honest."
"You don't have to hit us in the face with a nail-studded board. Soften it a little, sister!"
"LOVE, LOVE, LOVE."
"Don't keep polishing your 'incorrigibly nice'...
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6 comments
Mar.21.2013
I've been accused of being "incorrigibly nice." Being a teacher is either a calling or a personality defect. Or a little of both.
...
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4 comments
Mar.18.2013
The crazy train is running out of steam . . .
Leprechauns have been banished. I can climb the stairs without becoming breathless. "Thelma and Louise" is on television. Life is good.
Just two more days to go.
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9 comments
Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.
”
—Mark Twain
About Jane
I am an attorney and mediator in a small community in Southwestern Michigan. I have been a professor at two law schools as well as a community college and currently substitute, when possible, in the public schools.
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