The Hellish Handbasket

It's been almost a year since I started blogging as the Chronic Malcontent. I began with no purpose in mind other than to share my writi...

My mother called me last night and in typical indirect style expressed her desire to go shopping today. “I need some boots,” she said. “Lill...

Merry Effing Christmas from the Chronic Malcontent. I spent the day in the tub, recovering from a sugar high. Last night was the paternal an...

I don't consider myself a Christian. That means I am not inclined to be cheery during the Christmas season. In fact I can hardly stand...

Part of me is frozen in time, stuck forever in the horrific events of Friday, December 14. Just like a part of me is still caught in the des...

We all know people who tend to be quiet, maybe even a little shy. They don't exactly skulk around the periphery of our social gatherings...

The fragility and unpredictability of life hits home this week, with the Oregon mall shooting and now the mass shooting at a Connecticut ele...

What a surreal night. I got news from my dissertation chair that she's sending my revised concept paper on to the committee for the seco...

My work life is lived in chunks of time. Day to day, week to week, term to term. Year to year. I suppose most people live on some kind of sc...

The end of the term at the career college coincided with some other curious occurrences, prompting me to ask, is it odd, or is it gawd?  Ha....

Winter is about slogging through. Winter is two steps back for every tiny step forward. Winter is sniffles, frigid feet, fogged spectacles, ...

Have you ever driven on a freeway at night in rainy fog and felt like you were not moving at all, or felt like you might just possibly be at...

Hi, how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was awesome, thanks for asking. As you might expect, I am not a big fan of the holiday season. It's ...

Yesterday I checked the dissertation online course room to see if there was word on the status of my concept paper. After two weeks, there i...

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since I submitted my concept paper draft to my chairperson. She acknowledged its receipt, so I know she's g...

Apparently there was a salmonella recall on Trader Joe's peanutbutter. I didn't get the memo, so followed a couple crappy days. I li...

While I wait for my dissertation chairperson to review the umpteenth draft of my concept paper, I have some time to reflect once again on ...

The president of our struggling career college emerged from the cyberspace hinterlands last week to send us an email. As I clicked on it, I ...

I uploaded the next draft of my dissertation concept paper to the course room a few minutes ago. I should feel elated, but all I can muster ...

I've decided to stop complaining about the weather. I'm sure you can figure out why. What's a few raindrops, compared to what Su...