No One’s Kissing Santa Claus Here!

It’s that time of year again when treacly holiday tunes are piped in everywhere you go…at the outdoor malls here in Florida…the gas station…restaurants…and even creeping into my two favorite SiriusXM radio channels (The Bridge; Margaritaville). Here’s your chance to escape the syrupy earworms of December. This playlist is dedicated to Teran Hillger, faithful contributor

A Non-Fiction Triad: Alaska Here We Come

I first came across Adrienne Ross Scanlan’s poetry ten years or so ago when I was assistant editor at The Centrifugal Eye, a now defunct literary journal . Exactly which of Adrienne’s poems we published, I can’t recall—or even if we ended up with one of her works. I’m confident we did because, her writing

Who ya gonna call?!

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and the only one I celebrate. I’ve loved the holiday since I was a little girl, not so much for the candy, but for the opportunity to dress up and be someone or something else for a night. In 1960, when I was 8 years old, my mother dressed me

A Time to Reap

I don’t know about you, but, of all the changes in seasons, the one from summer to autumn seems to me to be the most dramatic and definitive. One day it’s summer heat, the next day my heat comes from a furnace as nights chill into the 40s. Children go back to school and Hollybrook

A Blitz of Books

What’s your next great read? Here are two I highly recommend, and one, well, you be the judge! The reek of damp and emptiness “Love affairs, one-night stands, beartbreak, joy, betrayal”—that is the essence in Deborah Price’s one words of her breathtaking memoir The Peanut Factory from Guts Publishing. The book recounts her unabashed, untarnished

Karla’ Great British Travel Show

I returned safely on August 31 from fifteen days in the United Kingdom–managed to get there and back Covid-free. And I now feel freer than I have since the virus invaded the Earth. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the joys on international travel–and maybe inspire to pack your bags and find your own

Back to School with Some Music to Keep on Learning

Whew, where did the summer go?! With days shortening perceptibly now. And, while the heat is on in too many parts of the world and in our own backyards in many parts of the U.S.—with wildfires and flooding—let’s chill out for a spell and enjoy some music. One way or t’other, let music ring. Hope

You’ve Got a Friend in Music…aboard the Queen Mary 2!

I wouldn’t have been on this seven-night cruise aboard my beloved QM2 had it not been for music. As some of you know, I sailed the world’s only ocean liner in 2019 on a World Voyage that took me to ports in 22 countries in 108 days. Needless to say, the cruise of a lifetime.

Santé! Bon Appetit! The Finest Dining on the Queen Mary 2 !

Even if you’ve never been on a cruise ship, you probably know the tales of limitless buffets and great dining experiences from champagne brunch to Wagu beef entrees. Aboard the QM2, they take it to the absolute limit of the gastronomical stratosphere. So, for all you foodies out there, here’s the best of the best

Nearly “Normal,” Whatever That Is

In this summer of the Omicron BA5 variant, I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering, “What happened to the ‘new normal?’” We’re getting there, but this dastardly virus isn’t done with us yet. Yes, the death rate isn’t as staggering as with the past viral variations. And, yes, hospitalizations are down significantly for the most