RameyLady

My Backstory: My dad - army man, steelworker, tornado survivor

My Backstory series offers stories about my upbringing and background. You can find the whole series under the category “Biography,” if you’re interested. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My dad during his Army service, probably around 1954 Eventually my Dad made it to graduation – I don’t remember how he scrounged up a suit for graduation, but he did.  He shared a nerve-wracking group dinner with his…

100% RameyLady | No AI I recently finished watching the Fallout series (Prime), perhaps one of the best live-action video game spinoff series I’ve ever seen, particularly when compared to the Halo series (Paramount+) — I wanted to like it so badly! — or the Witcher (from Netflix) which cannot be rescued even by having the absolutely most perfect actor for Geralt that’s ever walked through a…

Stumbling Can Be Lovely – Longreads — Read on longreads.com/2024/03/07/stumbling-can-be-lovely-devin-kelly/

by me + ChatGPT In the land where they pay for their care, Healthcare costs are enough to scare!From premiums to bills, It’s enough to give chills.Good health comes with a hefty fare. When Americans get sick, they may rue The bills that they’ll later accrue. The costs that they bear Can cause quite a scare As medical debt they struggle to chew. The hospital visit was a fright But the bill that…

Hey! Try making these salmon cakes. They're super tasty!

I’m trying to increase my protein intake at lunchtime, so tried making salmon cakes and not getting them as “heavy” as last time. I made 12 cakes from this recipe, about the size of my palm (so maybe 3oz?) and we fried them up. DELICIOUS. See what you think. Some of the amounts here are “feels” – follow your heart, and taste the mixture before forming patties. Canned salmon is cooked, so no…

Hugo Award Reads, 2022

I usually post a review of each Hugo Award-nominated novel, and I forgot this year. Catching up here with a single post so I can capture some thoughts. Perhaps you’ll find a book worth reading along the way. (Links in this post are affiliated with Amazon or Apple; if you click through, I might get a fraction of a penny.) I thought this year’s slate of novels was solid, though not as strong as in…

Don’t Pink for Me: October, breast cancer, and me

October is breast cancer awareness month, a cause I support. My mom survived breast cancer round #1 in 1987 but it returned in 1995/96, and she died in August of 96. I lost my mom when I was 22, barely out of college, and way before anyone should lose a parent. A note about the title – I’ll address this later in my post. “Don’t Pink for Me” comes from a campaign by the Breast Cancer Action…

I haven’t had a working piano (digital or “real”) in the house for a long time. I think the pedal module broke on my Clavinova in like 2007 and I never found a way to connect with Yamaha to ask a terrifying question (is it even possible to fix, since the motherboard connection was broken off?) The big ol’ 1920s player piano that’s been in my life since I first started taking piano lessons as a…

Link: How to Do What You Love

Wow this is a FANTASTIC read – drop everything, read it now: http://www.paulgraham.com/love.html If you think something’s supposed to hurt, you’re less likely to notice if you’re doing it wrong. That about sums up my experience of graduate school.Paul Graham, “How to do what you love” Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work…

Losing friends in your 40s

I woke up this morning alongside a thumb-scroll of my Instagram feed. It’s not a place I hang out much anymore (*thinks of Facebook as a parent corporation* *shudders*) but I had a notification to check. And there, bam. A post by the adult daughter of a former friend put a knot in my stomach, a reminder that I used to be friends with her parent … and now I’m not. Losing friends in your 40s…

The morning after impeachment acquittal: a 2021 reflection

I stared at the blank page today, and this title is the one that popped out. I haven’t written nearly as much here over the past 4 years as I did previous to Trump’s election — I don’t think that is a coincidence. So many parts of America are broken, and the more I learn about our history and pay attention to how our society functions, the more obvious the fractures in the economy and social…

2021, we need to talk

“2021! How are ya now?” “Good, an you?” “Oh, not so bad. Hey, can we have a talk? I think we need to clear the air a bit. Your big brother left a bit of a …stench in the air.” “Yeah, that makes sense. Grab a coffee?” “Is there a place where we can drink it outside?” An awkward pause, as we both search our phones to see if any local coffee shops have outdoor seating open in January. Starbucks…

#Exvangelical, four years on

While I’m no stranger to controversy, I don’t seek it out. Thus, I have put off writing this post for months years now, as I’ve been a bit timid about saying “out loud” what’s been happening in my head for the past four years. Anytime we talk about Faith, things get messy; it’s easy to be misunderstood. And in the words of one of my favorite professors back in the day, “I hate to be…

Today is August 1 and in a few short weeks, nearly every college in South Carolina where I live is going to open up for in-person classes this fall and open its dorms. Meanwhile, SC’s death rates are rising ever higher in the lagging metrics of coronavirus exposure that took place over the July 4th weekend.  It’s sensible to expect that we’ll see another spike in September as a result of…

The Saga of the Pie: Not all cooking adventures are happy, but the mess-ups sure are hilarious!

In telling you this story, I am swearing you to secrecy.  If I manage to come out of this alive, it will be against all odds. I best not embark on a life of crime, because I have to tell someone….. So. Today, I decided, “Hey, I have a ‘minute in this stupidly busy month when I’m trying to pass 3 classes at Converse and also write ch 2 of my dissertation, which makes me nearly hyperventilate with…

Had not read this piece before on Black feminism by K Whitehead in 1979, where she discussed how Black women are not responsible for giving Black men an exit out of the patriarchal privilege which they weaponize against Black women instead of uniting against common threats.

Read it here: htt…