Category Archives: Pot Pouri

The Flies Have It

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Liza Blue

Stories require a setting and a few workable details to set the mood.  Often this is weather-related (“it was a dark and stormy night…”), but here is my sure-fire suggestion to set a scene and provoke a mood. Add a … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri | 2 Comments

Dear Lady in the Front Row Who Gasped

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Liza Blue

I was at the podium and you were sitting in the front row when I heard you gasp.  Some may not have heard it, others thought it was nothing more than a quick intake of breath.  I am going to … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri | 4 Comments

In Praise of Kitchen Gadgets

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Liza Blue

  There is nothing like a visit to Bed, Bath and Beyond to restore one’s confidence in American ingenuity.  I’m not talking about the whiz bang intelligence required to send a man to Mars, invent the Internet, or thwart Russian … Continue reading →

Posted in Lists, Pot Pouri | Leave a comment

The Slippery Slope to Sloth

Posted on September 20, 2018 by Liza Blue

  Definition: Sloth /slôTH,slōTH/ noun 1. disinclination to action or labor; spiritual apathy Symbolized by a Lazy Boy in the living room. 2.  A slow moving tropical American mammal Derived from the activity level of a human in a Lazy … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri, Such is Life | 2 Comments

The Lost Seinfeld Episode

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Liza Blue

When I picked up my deck stain at the Sherwin Williams store, I realized I’d stumbled onto the perfect scenario for a Seinfeld episode.  I couldn’t believe that the beleaguered Seinfeld writers, who appeared to run out of ideas by … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri | Leave a comment

The Dumbest Player on the Hockey Team

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Liza Blue

Last month Nick and I spent 36 hours in the clutches of the Marquette General Hospital in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, investigating his fleeting episode of chest pain, which turned out to be nothing more than a flush of heartburn.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri | 1 Comment

Only to Find Gideon’s Bible

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Liza Blue

My family rarely stayed in hotel rooms when we were kids, so when I first saw a Gideon Bible I thought that it had been left by a previous occupant named Gideon.  I thought nothing more of it until 1968 … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri | Leave a comment

Mind Trip

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Liza Blue

Driving makes me drowsy, so I am anxious as I contemplate my solo drive from my writer’s retreat in Montpelier, Vermont to my home north of Chicago.  On most long drives, I wisely stop for refreshing naps.  Once a wavering … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri, What I Did | 1 Comment

Dear Presbyterian Church

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Liza Blue

Dear Presbyterian Church of the United States, First I should explain that I am not really a Presbyterian, or any sort of church goer for that matter.  I would classify myself more as a spiritual atheist and a cultural Christian.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri | Leave a comment

Symbolic Gestures

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Liza Blue

In college, I was convinced that symbolism would be my downfall. I’d never graduate. It all started in high school when I was a new sophomore in an all-girls boarding school. Mr. Shohet, my English teacher, seemed like an aggressive, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pot Pouri, Sort of Academic | Leave a comment