As I’ve gotten older (but never wiser), I expected the hot flashes, mood swings and irritability. What I didn’t expect was that my age would turn my hair into a mortal enemy. Each morning, I stare in the mirror and prepare for what feels like a battle to the death. If the indignity of havingContinue reading “Letting My Hair Down”
Author Archives: Peri Kinder
A Bitter Pill
I’m at the point where each doctor visit starts with “Well, at your age…”. I need to get my liver rotated, my heart valves oiled, my lung filters changed and I need a lot of bodywork done. Nips and tucks won’t do it, I need parts replaced and a complete undercarriage overhaul. I’ve got 99Continue reading “A Bitter Pill”
Christmas Unwrapped
It was the Christmas season as I wandered the aisles at Gibson’s Discount Center with a $5 bill crumpled in my pocket. It was 1975 and parents didn’t care if their 7-year-old wandered alone through a store. I’d earned money to buy my parents Christmas gifts and I had to find the perfect presents. IContinue reading “Christmas Unwrapped”
Hark! The Herald Angels Scream
It was the Cabbage Patch Kid frenzy of ’83 and parents had lost their dang minds. I was a young mother and didn’t think my 6-month-old daughter needed the trendy toy of the year, but watching crowds of people attack each other over a doll was inconceivable. TV news showed Black Friday sales where hundredsContinue reading “Hark! The Herald Angels Scream”
Plymouth Crock
One cool November morning, Mom twisted my blonde hair into two braids and painted my face with orange and blue stripes. I put on a fringed vest made from a paper grocery bag (decorated with stick figures and animals), donned my construction paper headband with its fake feathers and walked uphill (both ways) in theContinue reading “Plymouth Crock”
The Truth is Out There
Depending on who you ask, aliens have either 1) frequently visited our planet, 2) never visited our planet, or 3) are currently running our planet. It’s been quite a year for Unidentified Flying Objects, which are now called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. (Tomayto, tomahto.) These “extraterrestrial” vessels made the news, created a TikTok channel and hadContinue reading “The Truth is Out There”
It’s Like Pulling Teeth
There are lots of people in this world who scare me, like toddlers, Christian nationalists and the barista who always compliments my shirt, even when I’m wearing a blood-stained hoodie. But dentists! Dentists are a higher level of fear. I’m sure they get tired of being compared to the sadistic dentist in “Little Shop ofContinue reading “It’s Like Pulling Teeth”
Barking up the Wrong Tree
My dog Jedi started barking at cars. All the time. I don’t know why but my best guess is she a) hates cars, b) loves cars, c) wants to scare cars or d) she needs a ride to Petsmart to pick up some jerky treats and tennis balls. I stop her from dragging us bothContinue reading “Barking up the Wrong Tree”
A Bit of a Stretch
If you’d told me 20 years ago that I’d be a yoga instructor, I’d have laughed hard enough to tear a hamstring because I was very inflexible. I took my first yoga class as a dare. My tennis instructor laughed at how tight I was and challenged me to try yoga. I hated every minuteContinue reading “A Bit of a Stretch”
Rage Against the Machine
First, robots came for assembly line workers. Then they came for agricultural and warehouse jobs. Then a cyborg assassin time-traveled from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor. What will artificial intelligence target next? If you ask our publisher, journalism is on the robotic chopping block. He recently sat down with our editorial team andContinue reading “Rage Against the Machine”
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