Scarlet Letters

CultureGeek post: A Year in Memoriam , remembering those we've lost in 2016. This took a while to compile.

Background: I have a tendency to overuse the word "suddenly." I seriously am going to have to do a find/replace on the next book to kill that word throughout the manuscript once I'm done with the rewrite. ME: Suddenly! Again! WRITER1: Have you considered the use of a thesaurus? ME: Grrrr. WRITER2: I have a Lionel Richie song running through my head now  thank you! ME: That's what you get. My pain is your pain. WRITER2: And you wonder why I brought wine. ----- Texting... ME: Merry Christmas kiddo! BOY: Merry Christmas mom ME: We opened all your presents and are playing with your toys. BOY: LOL I no longer have him fooled, dangit. ME: What do you call an elf who sings? ME: A wrapper! ME: What do you call a kid who doesn't believe in Santa? ME: A rebel without a Claus! ME: ... ME: Nothing? Wow, tough room. BOY: Yeah. ME: I got lots more. BOY: ... BOY: *sends third attempt at texting game* ME: I give up. This thing does not work. BOY: M...

In case you hadn't noticed, we got shellacked by an ice storm this weekend. Friday was bad enough that we aborted a trip to Wal-mart after it took half an hour to go four blocks. We ventured out on Saturday, as I had a signing and Boy had a job interview. The interview went okay, but the signing was canceled two hours in due to encroaching bad weather. Then church was canceled for Sunday, so we snuggled in for the remainder of the weekend. That means baking! Our annual tradition of gingerbread cookies incorporates Man and Boy playing with the cookie cutters. My collection is a mix of my own acquisitions, my mother's donations from three decades ago, and her own grandmother's hand-me-downs that could be a century old by now. One of them always sculpts something unusual - this year, Boy created a snowman, held together by icing. Boy also demonstrated a natural talent for decoration, and I believe I may retire permanently. I have zero skill with the icing bag, an...

Overheard in the newsroom, among the talented, smart, young  people who have recently joined us... COPY EDITOR 1:   I found a gray hair once. COPY EDITOR 2: No way. ME: I don't want to hear it from either of you! BOTH: *laughter) COPY EDITOR 1: Seriously! I found this gray hair while I was working at (other newspaper) and I thought, "What have you done to me?" ME: Welcome to journalism. BOTH: *laughter* COPY EDITOR 1: I knew she would say something. ME: Please. I have socks  older than the both of you. As evidenced by the gentle streaks of silver growing at my temples... The sock line is absolutely true. I have two pair of black socks remaining from the set I bought when I was hired at McDonald's in 1992. They aren't in the best of shape, but they have survived. Our wonderful young copy editors were born in 1993 and 1994 respectively, as I discovered when I was showing them the darkroom, that museum relic from an earlier age of less convenience and s...