One of my Facebook friends has been sharing some hairy details of a family feud. It’s not pretty. The stories she tells are awful: stalking, theft of property promised on a parent’s death bed, and far too many cruel words. Most of this seems to emanate from one member of the family, to the …
The Power of Thanks/Giving
With Thanksgiving upon us, I’m seeing tons of ads for Black Friday. “Sale! Sale! Sale!” “Buy! Buy! Buy!” This is the time of year when people line up at 5 in the morning, just to pick up some ginormous flatscreen TV. This is the time of year that feeds a never-ending appetite for stuff. There’s …
Sandy — And What She Left Behind
It was about a week ago that I woke up and realized that my house was still standing after Hurricane Sandy. The days prior to it were a blur of stocking up on food, batteries, gasoline; taking down all my windchimes (I have a LOT of windchimes) and birdfeeders — and generally gazing at the …
A Reading for A Real Housewife
I love the Real Housewives of New Jersey. It’s like watching 7th grade all over again, only with better clothes, bigger earrings and more cussing. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what they’re all worked up over every week, but I guess that’s the job of reality TV. We fans know that …
What You Can Learn 23 Feet Up
It was one of those Bucket List things that brought me to Trapeze School in New York City. I figured it would be fun, not to mention a good cocktail party story (assuming that I didn’t end up in the orthopedic wing of the hospital). But I had no idea I’d experience so many “a …
Family Feuds for the Enlightened
Yesterday, I did a reading for a woman who’s family was less the Cleavers and more The Addams Family. Actually, now that I think about it, it was more like the Corleones. Anyway, she was being driven absolutely ’round the bend by all kinds of dysfunction, fighting, back-biting and all that other fun stuff. Now, I’m all …
You’re In Good Hands…with Spirit Guides
I remember the first time I learned about Spirit Guides — and how cool I thought it was. Imagine having a whole gang of invisible helpers at your beck and call: would they do the laundry? Give me lottery numbers? Give me the answer’s to the next day’s Physics test? The answer is no, no …
THE OUIJA HEEBIE-JEEBIES
I still remember the first time I ever used a Ouija board: I was in fifth grade, having a sleepover with my friends. After a long, giggly debate, we decided the dead person we most wanted to contact was….Betsy Ross. Go figure. (I voted for Bobby Sherman, but he wasn’t dead– a minor technicality). Anyway, …
Five-Minute Feng Shui
I just did a major purge of old books, DVDs and some truly hideous gifts. It wasn’t so much to provide shelf-filler for the local Goodwill as it was to make some feng shui fixes in my house. Feng shui is essentially the art of placement: where you put the stuff in your home and …
Drag Queens and The Devil
I’m obsessed with drag queens. I love them. RuPaul’s Drag Race is my not-so-guilty pleasure, and To Wong Foo is one of my favorite movies. Now what could a middle-aged Methodist from a small town who personally prefers Land’s End over Louboutins find in this world of sequins, wigs and general diva-liciousness? I think it …