The Hellish Handbasket

In recognition of my need to increase my income, last week I applied to a local home improvement box store to work as a part-time merchandis...

Solopreneurs work alone, by definition. That means we are the face of our business (...and the hands, feet, wide butt, and bulging belly). W...

If I could have any life I wanted, this would be it, pretty much. I've got a great little apartment (aside from an ant infestation probl...

It's spring for another day in Portland, and then we are back to the norm (rain). Rain is our year-round season. The only thing that var...

Sometime back I think I said my new mantra was something like do what scares me . Not just do what interests me , but do what scares me . At...

This week I'm wrapping up the loose ends of the doctoral journey. The University wanted a pdf file and a hard copy of the dissertation. ...

I've been avoiding this moment for six months. This week I was broadsided with an unpleasant realization: No, it can't be! Can it be...

I'm back in waiting mode, waiting for the Graduate School to give a thumbs up/thumbs down on my dissertation (first draft). If I'm l...

This morning I rose before the sun for another adventure in downtown Portland. I still can't believe I did it. I don't mean attendin...

Early this morning I dragged myself out of bed, fixed some food and shoveled it into my mouth, and dashed out the door to pick up my frien...

I know I said I was going to let go of the career college and stop wallowing in the past. It's hard. Recently I whined about the linen t...

Signing up faculty to interview for my doctoral study is worse than herding cats! Worse than wrangling medical students to do timings in key...

I received a polite note from the Institutional Review Board today, explaining why they were rejecting my application to conduct my study an...

My former colleague Sheryl just called to complain about the frustrating world of online job applications. We commiserated for a few minut...

Another Monday with no place to go. I have stopped trying to convince myself I am on vacation. Loose ends conspire to remind me that I am no...

I'm embarrassed to say, I'm having a hard time letting go of my former life as a college instructor. Time and emotions are messing w...

I'm relieved to say I hit the ground running on my first day of freedom. I could have slept in. I considered it, actually. But I had a d...

Yesterday afternoon I took a bus downtown to meet my friend Bravadita at Pioneer Square. It was perfect weather, warm and clear, a good day ...

If you are just tuning in, here's the story to date. For the past ten years, I worked for a career college at its campus in Clackamas, a...