When My Son Was Born, And After

I Once Had A Boyfriend Who Couldn't Write Unless He Was Wearing A Necktie And A Dress Shirt, Which I Thought Was Really Weird, Because This Was A Long Time Ago, And No One I Knew Ever Wore Dress Shirts, Let Alone Neckties; It Was Like He Was A Grown-up Reenacter Or Something.

Who On Earth Is Going To Use 'utilize' In A Text Message, A Whopping Seven Characters Including The Always-hard-to-type 'z,' When You Can Say The Exact Same Thing In Three Characters? I Can't Think Of A Sentence In Which 'use' Can't Replace 'utilize.'

What's Funny Is That The Idea Of Popularity - Even The Use Of The Word 'popular' - Is Something That Had Been Mostly Absent From My Life Since Junior High. In Fact, The Hallmark Of Life After Junior High Seemed To Be The Shedding Of Popularity As A Central Concern.

I Am Unusually Halloween-attentive, Because, As It Happens, I Was Born On Halloween, So For Me It Has Always Been An Occasion Of Great Moment.

Winter In The Country Is Very White. There Is Black Grit On All The Shoulders Of The Roads And On The Big Mounds From The Plows, And All The Cars Are Filthy, But The Fields Are Dazzling And Untouched And Pristine.