This year, BlogHer is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its annual conference and in honor of that milestone, there are lots of activities going on around the Selfiebration hashtag. Last week, BlogHer’s Executive Editor Julie Ross Godar asked, “Where were YOU ten years ago?” If that’s not a great blog post prompt, I don’t know what is. Ten years ago, it was 2004. (See? I can do math.) My life was completely different in so many ways from what it is at this moment. Let’s start by talking about me and the internet ten years ago. I used it only for email and…well, I think that’s about it. I had…
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Giving St. Louis Another Chance
I used to have extended family in the St. Louis area and when I was a kid we made the drive to visit them every now and then, but one trip to The Lou has stood out in my mind for almost forty years. That one particular trip was supposed to be fun: my family went to St. Louis for a weekend getaway with another family, great friends, and what we kids looked forward to the most was our day at Six Flags St. Louis, known back then as “Six Flags Over Mid-America”. And I’m sure it WAS fun, mostly. All except for the moment when… when… I can still…
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Kiss, Cher, and Rock and Roll
Buckle up for this one. It’s going to be a crazy, zig-zaggy ride. When I heard the news a couple of weeks ago that Kiss was finally going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I was thrilled, but surprised that they weren’t already in there. Sidenote: You might be surprised to learn that I’m a big fan of Kiss. Surprise! I like their music a lot, I think Gene Simmons is one of the smartest business-minds out there, and shhhh! Guilty pleasure alert: I loved watching the adventures of the Tweed-Simmons family on A&E’s “Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels” (“Scripted Reality” or not, that was good…
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Go West, Young Man! (Part 2)
Last weekend D left his Wisconsin home to head out west with three friends on a trip he’s been talking about for nearly a year. To sum it up, they are driving all the way across the country to visit (and camp and hike in) a couple of different national parks. This is totally different from the last time he left for the western United States; that time it was a controlled summer of working for the Boy Scouts. This time? Pretty much flying by the seat of his pants. In the wild west. It took a while for Jim and me to warm up to the idea of this…
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Sometimes It’s Best To Let Other People Make The Decisions, No Matter The Outcome.
I’m easily stressed. This is not news to most of you. It’s mostly because I’m a worrier. And a perfectionist. And…well, need I go on? When I find myself in the middle of a stress spiral as I am this week—for many reasons, all of which have been resolved/finished/taken care of—the part of my brain that normally makes decisions easily just…shuts down. “What do you want for dinner, Melisa?” “I don’t know. I can’t even think about that right now.” “Okay, do you want salad, or how about grilled chicken? Or burgers?” “I don’t know. I don’t care. You pick.” Like THAT. I am also a life-long nail biter, which…