Lend me an Ear

by Chrysa SmithAbout this time of year, I'm reminded of my great uncle from Poland. A big round man with a long, stinky cigar, enormously wide tie and heavy slavic accent, he would never eat corn. "Eh, that's for cattle!" he'd say, as the dish passed to the next person.Veggies in a can may not be haute cuisine, but, at the height of growing season, I do think Uncle Zig missed a great [...]

2018-10-30T09:57:00-04:00July 8th, 2010|2 Comments

Grunts & Groans on Queens of Drama

by Chrysa SmithYou've seen them.If you've hit middle age, you've met them.Maybe you even have one or two in your family.They're the Queens of Drama---those ladies who are not happy, not fulfilled unless they are (like Strega Nona--the character from the children's book by the same name*)constantly stirring the cauldron.Only Strega Nona was innocent enough. Her pot was only full of water and pasta.But the Queens of Drama have a much more dangerous [...]

2018-10-30T09:57:00-04:00July 7th, 2010|2 Comments

Back to the Future–On My Bike

A Middle Aged Woman Gets on Board--In Two Wheeled StyleBy: Mary Fran BontempoI’m definitely regressing.With each passing birthday, though I’m physically a year older, mentally, even emotionally, it’s a different story.I’m not talking about senility, yet, though I have my share of what’s euphemistically referred to as “senior moments.” You know the ones—mid-sentence you can’t remember what you were talking about; you walk into a room and suddenly you don’t remember why you [...]

2018-10-30T09:57:00-04:00July 6th, 2010|3 Comments

Women and Writing

As I read in The Philadelphia Inquirer, a couple of weeks ago, Karen Heller's article A New Vision of Feminism, the question occurred to me: Is the discrimination against women apparent in my current profession, among authors writing for children, today?It didn't take me long to realize that, indeed, it is.If you ever attended a children’s writers conference you have probably noticed that the majority of the participants are women. Yet when you [...]

2010-07-02T12:00:00-04:00July 2nd, 2010|4 Comments

Bountiful Berries

by Chrysa SmithBerries are in season. They're cheap. They're plentiful. They're in every market. So let's take advantage of all of those blueberries and strawberries bursting with color and flavor and juice and healthy anti-oxidants and nutritional value----and make something for dinner. I must confess, I am a summer fruit gal. But I've never been fond of blueberries. So, after hearing how wonderful they are for you, I looked and looked for a [...]

2018-10-30T09:57:01-04:00July 1st, 2010|4 Comments
Go to Top