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A Fuzzy Little Face
I always feel like I have to have something monumental to talk about to make a post. Hence, nothing for months. But sometimes maybe it’s just about saying, “Hey, here’s a thing in my life, and isn’t it adorable?” So as many of you may know we lost our young pug Oliver to PDE at […]
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Back in the Saddle Again
So slowly, ever so slowly, life is returning to more of a semblance of pre-Covid “normal.” We’ve gone to the store (masked of course). We’ve ventured into restaurants. We went on vacation (albeit a very low key not-around-a-lot-of-people vacation). And all of that is great. Unfortunately the other part of life going back to “normal” […]
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Four Years and Several Lifetimes Ago
It’s that time of the year again. Four years ago today my story almost ended – it seems like longer than that. It seems like lifetimes ago. That said, it’s been a tough year. (Duh) Probably the toughest year I have had since prior to 4 years ago. My depression has waxed and waned more […]
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Be Like Nike
I have stared at this blank page at least once a month for the last 6 months telling myself – write something, anything! I’ve even started a few things but then tossed them in the trash can. And I’ve found myself actually starting to dread even coming and trying to write anything because I “won’t […]
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Exciting News With No Excitement
Yeah, that pretty much sums up everything right now. I mean, I think it sums up how a lot of people feel about everything right now. One day is running into the next and they all look and feel the same. All I want to do is sleep all the time because, I mean – […]
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No Title Will Do
Today is my son’s 9th birthday, and I am trying really hard to feel celebratory about that. But quite frankly I am failing miserably. I knew this was coming. I’d like to believe I was never someone who is naive enough to not know what my child’s life would look like as he grew older. […]
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Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut
So today marks 3 years of survival. My first year I was very contemplative about what had transpired over those 12 months since that day. Last year was far more lighthearted. I was feeling in a good place and enjoying the happier things in life and my post reflected it. This year is different. The […]
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Twilight Zone: The Number 19
So here we are. Movie theaters and malls and parks and all kinds of stores and business shut down, events are canceled, the kids will probably not go back to school this year, we’re ordered to stay home except for essential travel… In the past three weeks I have been out of the house 2 […]
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Brain Weasels For The (NOT) Win
So in the midst of a conversation this weekend with friends while hanging out, it came up that I am half a chapter away from finishing the first draft of my book. So I found myself in the middle of that night unble to sleep with my brain spiraling into a dark place. A dark […]
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Back and Forth
So I failed at my plan of finishing the first draft of the book by Valentine’s Day. That said it’s because I realized there was a chapter that I had forgotten to include which was super important and is also pretty long and pretty emotional to write. So I’m going to give myself a pass […]
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When Insomnia Works For You
If you had asked me before today, I would have said that there is absolutely nothing worthwhile or useful about insomnia. I’ve struggled with it to varying degrees of intensity for most of my adult life and I have never found it to be anything other than exhausting and frustrating and just downright awful in […]
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It’s Been a Long Cold Lonely Winter
Well actually, we’re barely halfway through winter. And it hasn’t been cold at all (much to my serious chagrin.) And lonely probably isn’t the best word, but tough sure is. After the high-high of the vow renewal back in November things have definitely been a boulder rolling down a hill and gaining speed. Except not. […]
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‘Til Death Do Us Part
I have always thought vow renewals are stupid. It seems like so many times when people do them the next thing you hear is that they’re getting a divorce. In my mind the only people who think they need to renew their vows are those that feel like it will fix what is falling apart. […]
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Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire
Lest anyone think I am above reproach and spend my days living up to my original promise of “I will not censor myself here….” That is a load of bullshit. Too many people I know read this, and folks aren’t okay with hearing the truth when it’s uncomfortable or unflattering. There’s no way I can […]
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Who Bitches About Candy???
Everyone loves candy. Maybe you like chocolate. Or maybe you like gummies. Or maybe you like hard candies. Or maybe you like them all. Who doesn’t love candy? You know what else people like? Free things. You know, say if all you had to do to get candy was to ask for it and have […]
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It’s Been a Long September (And October)
You must have known when I posted two posts in two days back in August that I was really blowing my wad so to speak. So yes, it’s been about 2 1/2 months since I put up new content. To be fair, shit’s been kind of nuts. My neighbor is dying from brain cancer and […]
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Why Do One When You Can Do 2?
Two posts in two days? Everybody kiss your family goodbye because it’s clearly Armageddon. Since I spent my last post talking about the blog I thought I’d bring folks up to date on the book scene. I started another book. I got this idea for a paranormal/superhero fiction book involving a main character who completely […]
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About a Blog
Warning: I’m rushing a bit on this one because I want to get it posted before I go on vacation. I have typos and stuff at the best of times and this is not those times, so bear with me. I generally only post on my Tangent Girl Facebook page when I have a new […]
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Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
So a few years ago there was a documentary about Fred Rogers. Coming out very soon is the movie about him starring Tom Hanks. The thing is, I grew up in the Pittsburgh area so when I watched Mr. Rogers I felt like he WAS my neighbor. I loved the show well into my middle […]
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To Sleep Or Not To Sleep
So, insomnia. This whole lack of being able to sleep has been kicking my butt for as long as I can remember, though it’d certainly gotten worse in the last 4 to 5 years. When I was in the psych ward they gave me meds to sleep better and they worked great, but apparently taking […]
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Holiday S&M
Sadly this post is not going to be about some alternative and spicy ways to celebrate your holiday. Terribly sorry if you are now disappointed.
No, this post is about the fact that holidays were clearly invented by a sadist and the rest of us are a bunch of stupid masochists for continuing to subject ourselves to this routine terror.
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Easy Like Monday Morning
Being the wife of someone who has come out as gender-fluid has its challenges. In previous posts, as well as in more detail in the book-in-progress, I’ve talked about a lot of those experiences, but here’s a new set of thoughts. I understand that the majority of my husband’s life he’s had to be seen […]
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Happy I’m Not Dead Day
Yup that’s right, today is my second annual Happy I’m Not Dead Day. I haven’t written a post since January (what the hell you fucking slacker!) and I figured I could not let today go by without writing. BUT, I’ve decided I’m not going to pontificate on the whole “I wanted to die but here’s […]
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Phoenix Rising Volume 1
Something a little different on The Tangent Girl Volumes today. Yesterday was a big day for the hubby and he’s taking over today. Enjoy! ******************************************** A long time coming. Yesterday I turned 43, and we had a kid free day to ourselves as part of the celebration. It’s been a big year – one that’s […]
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Bury the Lead (and Then the Bodies)
I did a little work on the book today – yay for me, three 3 weeks in a row of keeping my resolution to write! I was working on a chapter, with aforementioned title above, about my struggles with the damage my mental health and my lack of addressing it has had on some of my relationships, […]
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I’m Writing My Way Out
I promised I’m going to write. So I figured I’d let you guys know what writing-stuffs I’m working on / conceptualizing. I’m still trying to finish the “memoir.” At 30,000 words I think I’m about 2/3rds of the way there. It seems unclear to me what the length of that kind of work “should” be, but […]
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Be LESS Fail-y
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. Honestly, if you think waiting until some arbitrary date is going to make it more likely that you will succeed at something you aren’t already doing, I think perhaps you’re an idiot. At the very least a Pollyanna, which frankly is pretty much just a well-meaning idiot. There is a slim […]
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Imagine Better
So this post might seem a little fan girlish at first, but I’ll ask you to stick with me because I truly feel it’s more than that. About a year ago I went to my first Imagine Dragons concert. I’d heard their songs, because I live in a first world country and occasionally turn on […]
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Actions Don’t Speak, They Scream
As you might expect, the process of working Dave/Davie’s gender fluidity into our lives has been difficult. It’s a lot for us to understand, figure out, adjust to – – so it’s bound to be hard for others, too. I get that. I don’t fault people for finding it awkward, or even uncomfortable – it is. I […]
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The Present of Presence
Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. ~Aldous Huxley [This post is definitely going to be considered TMI by some folks, so please feel free to opt out now if any mention of intimacy, no matter how generalized and vanilla, gives you the creeps.] I’ve been doing a lot of […]
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Old Dog Doesn’t Like Your Tricks
My husband Dave and I have been together for 22 years, married for almost 19 of those. Despite the fact that I travel for work, we’ve spent no more than 6 days apart, and that was once. The work trips tend to be only 3-4 days. And it’s kind of pitiful, but I don’t know how […]
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No Parent, No Child, No PERSON Should Know This Fear
Note: I want to be able to boost this post, so it can’t have any profanity in it. This is VERY hard because this topic deserves f-bombs about every other sentence. Feel free to add them mentally as you read. I believe in serendipity. I’ve been listening to podcasts again lately and while it […]
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This Review Brought To You By Psychiatric Medication
I’ve worked as an administrator in academic hospital medicine for 15 years. I started as just a secretary but through the luck of having an awesome practice leader and boss who cared about what I was capable of and not what piece of paper I did (or didn’t) have, I was quickly able to move […]
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Appreciation Is Blind
I’ve decided to finally give you that funny post I’ve been promising, this one in honor of it being the Sunday of GenCon (where l am not, again – – seven years is a long time, darn it! Dang kids!) GenCon was really a big thing for my friends back in the day when we […]
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Mommy Dearest
Since I’m in the habit of saying things here that I would never say outloud because I know people will judge the bejeezes out of me – why not continue the trend? Today’s subject as I drive towards my child who’s been away for a week with his cousins: Parenthood. For those of you just […]
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Be Careful What You Wish For
So, I’ve been away a little while. Okay, I’ve been away a long while, sheesh. I could use the excuse of you know, like, LIFE and that whole having to work for a living thing, and all that stuff, but nobody cares about my tiny violin. So never mind about all that, there’s been some […]
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Words Matter
With the suicides of Kate Spade a few days ago and now Anthony Bourdain today, I was reminded of something I heard some moron media person-thingy say a while back. He referred to the fact that the suicide of a celebrity is often followed by an uptick in other suicides as “Copycat Suicides.” I want to find that asshole and PUNCH HIM IN […]
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Call The CDC
I’m not an Infectious Disease doctor, or a Virologist, or a Zombie-fiction author, yet I have made the discovery of the century — despite everything previously believed to be true, it turns out depression is contagious. I am sure you are scoffing. But then all geniuses and their great discoveries were mocked in the beginning. So […]
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My Bio
This describes pretty much every aspect of my personality – it’s better than a Barbara Walter’s interview… Hope you enjoy meeting me. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secret-lives-introverts/201805/15-signs-youre-introvert-high-functioning-anxiety?utm_source=Heleo+Daily+Digest&utm_campaign=168157a380-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1651f20312-168157a380-216753321&mc_cid=168157a380&mc_eid=5366280356
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When Am I The “Grown-up”?
I think we all look at people who are older than us and think of them as the grown-ups and wonder when we’ll be ‘grown-up.’ But it doesn’t seem to matter how old I get, I always still feel like the “not-a-grown-up.” And that ends up making me feel like I’m screwing up in some […]
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A Few Recommendations For Your Library
I started paying for Kindle Unlimited about a year ago as a (significant) cost-saving way to support my insatiable book habit. I’ve been able to read a lot of cool books I’ve found there, and following authors on Twitter has introduced me to even more cool stuff. So I thought I’d share (you’re welcome)! The […]
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One Year of Love
I will just have to hope Queen doesn’t sue me for ripping off the title of one of their songs. (Hey Queen, it was the “first dance” at my wedding – does that make it better?) So… April 9th One year ago today I decided that the world would be better off without me. By […]
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Decisions, Decisions
I’m not someone who generally suffers from decision paralysis. Like, I never understood people who took forever to take a test – you either know the answer or you don’t, so answer it or just guess and move the hell on already. But for the past month or so I’ve been waffling more than a […]
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A Little Light Reading
Thought I’d share a little something I wrote a while back as a wedding gift. Hope you enjoy it! The Briar and the Birch written January, 2011 Once upon a time there was a Briar Vine and a Birch Tree who fell in love. The Briar Vine wound its way gently up and around […]
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Regression Towards the Mean
I haven’t been feeling very damned funny lately. Between the shooting, and work stress, and this stupid screwed up shoulder, and a nice helping of depression with a side of exhaustion…. I am not a bucket of laughs right now. And that’s kept me from writing for almost a month now because I figure people […]
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In Memory
I very rarely post about anything political, here or anywhere else on social media. I very rarely even engage in discussions in person about such things. I have generally found that if someone disagrees with you, it’s rare to never that is going to change, so you’re just playing with pigs and pigeons. And the […]
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Zombie Sleepover
“Sleep like the dead”… I’ve always thought this phrase sounded like the worst thing ever. Why would anyone want to sleep like the dead? I mean, the dead don’t wake up ever. Me? Like it or not, I’m more of a “sleep like the undead” kind of gal. You know – shuffling around all uncoordinated, drooling on myself, […]
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Why Is It So Hot, And Why Am I In This Basket?
I don’t remember doing it, but apparently I pissed in the Universe’s Cheerios. Or I was a very bad, BAD person in a former life. Or I broke a mirror. Or something… Because this week has freaking sucked. I am utterly convinced that I am not allowed to have nice things. It seems like every […]
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Petting My Peeves 3: People Suck
So I’m back again to bitch about stuff that annoys me. Today: Personality Traits That Piss Me Off Mansplaining: Before a bunch of guys start jumping all over my shit for this, I get that women can do this too, and I get that not all guys do it. But there is DEFINETLY a population […]
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Tell Me A Story
I’ve been reading a lot lately. I follow a lot of authors – known and less known – on Twitter, so I’ve been reading a lot of their stuff. And recently I picked up an old “best friend” that I haven’t read in years, Dreams Underfoot by Charles Delint. And that is when I really noticed […]
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