A Towering Tongue Twisting Career Turn

January 22, 2016January 22, 2016 / roughwighting / 92 Comments

I knew a dare when I saw one.

The big-bosomed, pink-slippered, black-eyed lady stared me down in her small three-story home. The offer of a salary and a journalistic writing career hung in the stale air. (See A Directional Career Curve.)

I took the dare and the job.

Just out of grad school, after dozens of rejections, I grabbed the chance to actually work at my skill of … well, writing?

With a Master’s in English I could pen pages about Swift’s satire and write a 100-page thesis on the Literature of Expatriate Black Authors, but could I actually DO anything with that degree?

Pauline’s black-eyed stare asked me that question.

Within 15 minutes I signed the contract and, unknowingly, I signed my life away for a year.

Did I feel imprisoned in her third-story small bedroom cum office Monday through Friday from 9 to 5?

Absolutely.

Did I bemoan my decision by Day Two of my employment?

Without a doubt. Continue reading →

A Directional Career Curve

January 15, 2016January 20, 2016 / roughwighting / 102 Comments

I had just earned my graduate degree. I was ready to take on the world in a career that would be so exciting…so invigorating…so worthwhile, that …well, I never went past the exciting, invigorating, and worthwhile parts.

I just knew I wanted a great career.

I read the ads in the newspapers. I talked to the headhunters, who chuckled over the phone. “A Master’s in English? And you want to do what with it?”

I didn’t have an answer. I knew what I didn’t want: No more school, no teaching, no secretarial position. They laughed and hung up.

I was offered three jobs at the University where I received my M.A.: one at the registrar’s office – secretarial; one at the Dean’s office of education – clerical; and one at the mailroom – sorting mail. Instead, I accepted a position that I read about in the classified section of the Newark Star Ledger: Continue reading →

A Hot Blogging Magician

January 8, 2016January 7, 2016 / roughwighting / 72 Comments

I’m not a statistician. I’m not a mathematician, nor even a magician.

I’m a writer, which does take more magic than math. Yet, Word Press (my blog server) sent me the stats for my most popular posts the past couple of years. I’m going to use those post headings in this tiny tale (below), and see if you can guess which was the #1 post for Roughwighting.

Sex and food seem to be the driving force to draw in a reader. I’m not so happy about this, but facts are facts, and stats are stats.

So, I’m setting aside the novel that I’ve been spending days, weeks, months on, and moving to a new set of characters. They all have big feet, particularly the main male character, and he only eats one meal a day: Spaghetti. Continue reading →

Find Your Wings

January 1, 2016December 29, 2015 / roughwighting / 71 Comments

I once flew, before I knew I couldn’t.

Not in a mechanical metal device,

but in my own voluminous state of being.

When I was young, I flittered with gossamer wings

moving the air … and me.

I flew back then, you know.

No one else believes me,

but my memory is clear and concrete. Continue reading →

(B)AKING LOVE

December 18, 2015December 17, 2015 / roughwighting / 98 Comments

I heard it could be done, but never had proof until this week.

In fact, I never really tried until my little grandson broke his leg.

But when a grandson with a smile that turns stone into molten lava gets hurt, what else can a far-away grandmother (known in his world as Grammy Pammy) do?

So yes, I sneak down to the dark corner of my basement, where I hide the thick ancient texts on “cooking magic” and “baking love,” the texts that my family know nothing about. Continue reading →