Going Batty!

Gratitude Revisited

Uncle Sam Wants ME!

The Bigger Package
Early in recovery, I was complaining about this and that (and likely everything!) to my good friend, Jim, who is also a wise Medicine Man of the Crow Tribe in Montana.  He smiled patiently while listening to me and then turned, looking me directly in the eye. “Melinda,” he said, “when you are all wrapped up in yourself, it makes for a small package.”  I sat back, surprised at his directness.  However, his point once made, I thought about that quote a lot and realized he was right; I needed to get out of myself�

The Broken Places
I apologize for not having a podcast this week—Les and I are currently traveling and I forgot my recording equipment at home and I have not yet found a suitable replacement on the road.  My wonderful friend, Edward Hemingway (yes of that Hemingway family) has been helping me figure out a title for my book.  For that matter, he is also doing my book cover, as he is one of the most gifted illustrators I have ever seen.   I received an email from him a

One Night in Amarillo (or 'Be Afraid--Be VERY Afraid!')
Michael and I decided to take the long way around on our way from San Francisco to Cleveland, Ohio, dipping south into Los Angeles for a brief visit with the aunt and uncle who had partially raised him.  If we had not taken that particular route, it is doubtful we would have spent a minute in Amarillo, Texas and as soon as we arrived there, I sure wished we had not taken that long way to Cleveland.  Most junkies try ‘the geographical cure’ to get away from drugs at one point or another--which is precisely what MIchael and I had in mind moving back to Cl

Shades of New York
Les and I just returned from a visit to New York City, a place that holds so many memories for me.  Arriving at Penn Station last week, reflections of those experiences flooded my brain—some bitter, some sweet, and some a combination of the two.  I remember my first move to New York—stepping foot in the city for the first time was an exciting, red-letter day.  I’d finally arrived at the center of any hopeful young actor’s universe—and for me, all t

The Season of the Witch
I love autumn . . . love the name autumn—so why would anyone want to call it “fall?” Personally, I always preferred the term “autumn” to “fall” because ‘fall’ conjures up a negative overtone.  When has the word ‘fall’ been used in a positive manner?   There is the ‘fall of the Roman Empire,’ a person can ‘fall from grace,’ a baseball team can ‘fall’ in the standings, and all of us have ‘fallen down’ at certain embarrassing points of our lives.  In fact, I cannot think a single circumstance when a ‘fall’ was thought to be