CONFESSIONS OF A WORRYWART

A BOY CALLED SCARLET?

susan fishman orlins — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:25:19 +0000

Casey is healthy, spunky and—at 13 1/2—still learning new tricks, like wagging his tail. Yet today I awoke vocalizing a name for my next dog. . . . → Read More: A BOY CALLED SCARLET?

WRITER + ENCOUNTER WITH STRANGER = STORY

susan fishman orlins — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:27:37 +0000

It’s a common occurrence in New York and other cities. You put your key in the lock of your apartment building and someone is about to follow you inside.

What do you do? Usually in the interest of security I ask if the person lives there and then request they use their own key . . . → Read More: WRITER + ENCOUNTER WITH STRANGER = STORY

WORDS WITH FRIENDS

susan fishman orlins — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:34:10 +0000

My New Year’s resolution is to learn how to play Angry Birds.

But an essay in the New York Times suggests that daydreaming increases creativity. Daydreaming requires time, time I dump into playing Words With Friends.

Words With Friends, though, is more than just words. It’s confirmation that my sister, . . . → Read More: WORDS WITH FRIENDS

MARATHON WOMEN

susan fishman orlins — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:50:03 +0000

Marathon women a decade hence

On an ordinary afternoon in 1998, Eliza, my sixteen-year-old daughter, plopped her backpack at my feet, waved a brochure so close it grazed my nose and declared, “I’m signing up for the Marine Corps Marathon. I’ll be running with a group that raises money for AIDS and trains Sunday . . . → Read More: MARATHON WOMEN

SMILING STRANGERS

susan fishman orlins — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:41:32 +0000

When I, always the initiator, smile at a stranger and the stranger smiles back, it puts a musical note in my step. Or in my pedal, as was the case on Christmas Eve day.

I was on a long bike ride from New Jersey to Staten Island and, when a driver stopped to allow me to . . . → Read More: SMILING STRANGERS

CATCHING MYSELF IN A DAILY THOUGHT: WHICH UNDERWEAR TO WEAR

susan fishman orlins — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:26:21 +0000

In my post My Year of Blogging, I noted that writing personal essays involves catching yourself in the act of thinking and then exposing and exploring it on the page.

Here’s something I do every single day, and it was not until this morning that I caught it in my consciousness as something to write . . . → Read More: CATCHING MYSELF IN A DAILY THOUGHT: WHICH UNDERWEAR TO WEAR

ANXIETY ABOUT GIFTS: GIVING & GETTING

susan fishman orlins — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:06:08 +0000

‘Tis the season to obsess . . . about gifts. For someone like me, who gets overwhelmed by choices, and–even when the options are narrowed to two–can’t decide, this can be a hard time of year.

So I resort to creative gift-giving, like ice cream sodas for the third night of Hanukkah. Making placemats for . . . → Read More: ANXIETY ABOUT GIFTS: GIVING & GETTING

Twitter Addiction: Advice From a Cognitive Therapist

susan fishman orlins — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:08:48 +0000

One day, after hours of sliding my cursor from Twitter to Facebook to Stats for my blogs and back to Twitter, when I should have been writing, I emailed Dr. M, a cognitive therapist.

Dr. M had previously helped me understand that worry is an addiction; it hits the same pleasure center of the brain that . . . → Read More: Twitter Addiction: Advice From a Cognitive Therapist

IT’S 3 A.M. & THERE’S AN EMAIL: TALE OF A BLOGGING LIFE

susan fishman orlins — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:39:30 +0000

At heart, I’m as much a salesperson as a writer. In 1978, I was recognized by Merrill Lynch for ranking second in opening new accounts among their first-year stockbrokers.

During my next career, back in the days of print, selling my essays was harder. Some of my articles received a dozen or more rejections before getting . . . → Read More: IT’S 3 A.M. & THERE’S AN EMAIL: TALE OF A BLOGGING LIFE

ANTIDOTE TO WORRY: CRUNCHY SALAD

susan fishman orlins — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:07:40 +0000

I needed an antidote to worry this weekend, when my bike got a flat tire and then my car wouldn’t start. So here is the latest in my Antidote to Worry Series of food photos and such.

Here’s how I compose this satisfying crunchy salad:

A base of arugula Trader Joe’s Healthy 8 chopped veggie . . . → Read More: ANTIDOTE TO WORRY: CRUNCHY SALAD

10 TWITTER QUESTIONS & 1 TWITTER TALE

susan fishman orlins — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:07:00 +0000

Note to those of my peeps to whom Twitterspeak is as foreign as Uz-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan-ese: You may not want to slog through this one. If you do, RT means retweet.

I spend a lot of time on Twitter sharing links to articles I write.

I have cultivated a variety of followers. Yet, how do I hold . . . → Read More: 10 TWITTER QUESTIONS & 1 TWITTER TALE

IN SEARCH OF THE ART OF EATING, TECHNIQUE-WISE

susan fishman orlins — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:27:12 +0000

Is it a worrywart trait to seek pleasure on the highest plane? To always be wondering whether–no matter how good something is–it could be better? That’s how it is with me and eating.

It’s a similar quest with family time. When I hear about a family who acts out Shakespeare together or who is always . . . → Read More: IN SEARCH OF THE ART OF EATING, TECHNIQUE-WISE

IN SEARCH OF JOLLY GEORGE: OUR FAMILY GLOSSARY

susan fishman orlins — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:47:31 +0000

If our family were contestants on a TV know-your-family game show, and the emcee were to ask, “Who is least likely to be a pest?” we would all shout “Emy!” The rest of us can be annoying, not least of all yours truly, but never Emy.

3 a-door-bell kids

When my three daughters were little, . . . → Read More: IN SEARCH OF JOLLY GEORGE: OUR FAMILY GLOSSARY

HOARDING WATER LIKE CHICKEN SOUP

susan fishman orlins — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:19:10 +0000

While shops experience brisker business on weekends, blog traffic slows, at least mine does.

So I’m posting this shortie today, hoping for weekend visitors.

What I’m about to write is one of those things I wouldn’t give a second thought to, were I not examining myself all the time for the very

gaggle of . . . → Read More: HOARDING WATER LIKE CHICKEN SOUP

HALLOWEEN HARDSHIPS

susan fishman orlins — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:19:46 +0000

1955

After a swallow of dinner, I dirty my face with burnt cork and, on my shoulder, rest a broomstick with a bundle of rags tied to its end. I then prepare for the battle with my mom over not wearing a coat.

I step into the hallowed night, wondering which house has the apples . . . → Read More: HALLOWEEN HARDSHIPS