So I didn't occupy anything today. At least not in the protesting sense. I was too busy figuring out how to make five zillion double-sided, three-hole-punch copies for my kid's teacher. So I suppose I was occupying space in the universe, just maybe not where it was most useful.Although that's arguable. Here in Reno, the [...]

When my grandfather was a young man in the late 1930s, he left his home in Chicago and went to plant trees in Oregon for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was the Great Depression, he was unemployed, and his family was poor. Dirt poor. I remember him talking about how excited he was to [...]

If you haven't heard -- and there's a very good chance you haven't -- a growing number of people are gathering in New York to "Occupy Wall Street." I say there's a good reason you haven't heard because the media has done a crap-ass job of covering the whole thing.  Finally, sixteen days after it [...]

So I went to a Tupperware party tonight. Just saying that makes me feel even dumpier, lamer, and older than I already am. I realize that Tupperware has "changed" and is "cool" now, but I frankly can't get past the idea that it's a bunch of orange, BPA-leaching plastic that my mom used for making [...]

So every year, for about the past fifteen years, I've written a holiday letter. It's kind of how this whole blogging thing got started. As you might imagine, my letters weren't exactly laundry lists of the fantastic trips we'd taken or stories about how the kids came home with "Student of the Week" bumper stickers. [...]

Whoops.  PartlySunny isn't here.  She's, um. . . indisposed. Photo by Gina MundaCheck out her latest article, "Hoarder Patrol," at Powder Room Graffiti.When money's the issue, should clutter stay or should it go?

I've had one of those weeks where you sort of feel like a really bad traveling carnival -- the kids look at you and think you should be fun, but when in comes down to it, you're actually just a  bunch of thinly spread out rides that need paint, could breakdown at any moment, and [...]

My mom died a year ago today.  I've heard people say this sort of thing a bunch of times, but it still feels like she's just on vacation in Asia or something.  It's like we haven't seen her and she hasn't called for a while, but surely she'll be home soon.Today was actually fine.  We [...]

When I was a kid, I loved The Pink Panther Strikes Again with Peter Sellers. It's the one where Inspector Clouseau's loyal assistant, Cato, attacks him whenever possible so that Clouseau can practice warding off assassination attempts. If you haven't seen it, picture really bad martial arts, complete destruction of private property, and a funny [...]