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LGBTSr Columns Offer Audio Narration by Wondervox
Have a listen – Savvy Senior column (text by Jim Miller, narration by Wondervox)
Have a listen – Book Review (text by Terri Schlichenmeyer, narration by Wondervox)
The folks at Eleven Labs have consistently upped their game, and the synthetic voices now available are truly impressive. I’m using them again to narrate articles, columns and blog posts for our readers who prefer to listen or who need audio enhancement for vision impairment.
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Book Review: The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life, by Joseph Jebelli, PhD
Narration provided by Wondervox.
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“The Brain at Rest: How the Art and Science of Doing Nothing Can Improve Your Life” by Joseph Jebelli, PhD
c.2025, Dutton $32.00 288 pagesThe wall in front of you hasn’t moved in at least fifteen minutes.
You know because you’ve been staring at it this whole time, your mind lost in thought but not on the task at hand. In other words, you were daydreaming and you just wasted a quarter of an hour – or did you? As you’ll see in “The Brain at Rest” by Joseph Jebelli, PhD, you may’ve been doing exactly the right thing.
Joseph Jebelli remembers that his father was a man driven.
The elder Jebelli worked long hours, up early, desk-bound all day and apparently hating it, until one evening he came home, spent. Jebelli’s his mother took her husband to a doctor, where he received a diagnosis of severe depression.
Jebelli was ten years old. His father never worked again.
Despite all that, Jebelli was likewise driven to overachieve but as time passed, his life became a shambles and he knew he needed to step back. He started by retreating slowly and gently away from too much work, which took awhile. Eventually, things began to change and he reports now that his well-being has improved considerably.
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Savvy Senior: Gravesite Care When You Can’t Get There
Narrration provided by Wondervox
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Can you recommend any services that offer gravesite cleaning and care? I recently visited my parent’s cemetery gravesite over Memorial Day weekend and found that their headstones were overtaken by weeds and moss and need to be cleaned. I live in a different state and can’t get back very often. Who can I call on to help me with this?
Long-Distance Linda
Dear Linda,
Depending on where your parents are buried, there are a hodgepodge of places you can turn to for gravesite grooming, decorating and special care when you can’t get there. Here’s what you should know.
Gravesite Care
It’s important to know that as a general rule, most cemeteries, like the one your parents are buried in, only provide basic grounds maintenance like mowing the grass and trash pickup. Special gravesite care and headstone cleaning is almost always up to the family. But for families who live a distance from their loved one’s burial place and can’t get back very often, what options are available?
A good place to start is to contact the cemetery staff where your parents are buried to see if they offer any special gravesite cleaning services or know of anyone who does. If not, try reaching out to some local funeral homes in the area to see if they can help or refer you.
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The Twist Podcast #296: Cuckoo for Cosplay, Posse Comitater Tots, and Rick’s Interview with Dr. Elijah Nicholas
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we rate Kristi Noem’s costume changes, ponder the military intervention in L.A., and enjoy Rick’s interview with Dr. Elijah Nicholas.
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Another Satisfied Book Client: On Life’s Terms: A Story of Recovery, by Phillip Guirand
I met Phillip Guirand recently at one of my workshops and he asked me to help him get his book out. It was a pleasure! And it looks great.
“In this stirring and deeply personal narrative, Phillip Guirand charts the harrowing descent and spiritual awakening of a man wrestling with the consequences of his choices. Set against the backdrop of addiction, fractured relationships, and a world quick to condemn, this powerful story follows one man’s fight to reclaim his soul. With raw honesty and emotional intensity, Guirand delves into the pain of brokenness and the long, uphill battle toward forgiveness—not only from others, but from within.
Phillip Guirand brings unmatched authenticity to this redemptive tale. Drawing from real experiences and universal struggles, he offers readers more than a story—he offers a mirror. Through heartbreak and healing, Guirand delivers a message of hope: no matter how far one falls, redemption is always within reach.”
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Updated Workshop Schedule Through September
All times are eastern (New Jersey) – 2 Hours in most cases
Register at the links belowIN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN LAMBERTVILLE
NEW HOPE ADULT WRITERS GROUP
NEW HOPE LIBRARY JOURNALING GROUP
CLINTON ADULT WRITERS GROUP
JULY WORKSHOPS VIA ZOOM
IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN SEPTEMBER
ADULT WRITERS GROUPS (ONGOING)EVERY 2ND AND 4TH TUESDAY
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: New Hope Free Library
93 W. Ferry Street, New Hope, PA
RSVPLAST WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH
Adult Writers Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
65 Halstead St, Clinton, Clinton, NJ
REGISTER AT THE LIBRARY WEBSITEMONTHLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL JOURNALING
NEW HOPE LIBRARY
EVERY FIRST WEDENSDAY (STARING JULY 2)
REGISTER HERE
SUMMER SESSIONS IN JULY!
Fiction Writing Essentials (2 hours via Zoom – limit 8)
Monday, July 7 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM eastern ($40)
Explore the ins, outs, and mechanics of writing fiction.
DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE
Character Creation: They’re Alive!
Monday, July 14 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM eastern ($30)Creating characters with lives of their own
DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE
Self-Publishing with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) (2 hours via Zoom – limit 6)
Monday, July 28 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM eastern ($40)
For anyone interested in the how-to of self-publishing.
DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HEREJUST ADDED! IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN SEPTEMBER.
READ ALL ABOUT THEM AND REGISTER HEREQuestions? Comments? Email me at YourWritePath @ Outlook . com
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Wishful Doing: An Inside Job
By Mark McNease
“The challenge is not to be perfect—it is to be whole.”
—Jane Fonda
It’s not the thing the emotion attaches to, it’s the emotion.
It’s not the person or event the anger attaches to, it’s the anger.
It’s not the thoughts around which the confusion swirls, it’s the confusion itself.When I’m consumed by an emotion, even something as simple as anger aimed at another driver on the road, it’s the emotion that generates my state of mind, not the other driver. So many people have a need to be angry, or even enraged, without ever comprehending that the object of their rage is not the issue: it is the rage, and the need for it, that lies at the heart of the experience.
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The Weekly Readlines June 6
From the Editor’s Desk: My last coffee at Starbucks
As much as I want to think the cowardly corporate capitulation to the Trump regime and its Christo-fascist power engine doesn’t bother me, going into Starbucks and seeing not one single acknowledgment of Pride stings. This is at the Giant grocery store where I worked for seven years. Every June you knew it was Pride: baristas with supportive T-shirts, Pride merch, even rainbow banners in the store. It was always corporate insincerity, and now it’s all gone. We no longer exist for them. We no longer matter.
Corporate bottom-liners really have abandoned us. This will be my last purchase at Starbucks. I’d rather buy coffee from a business that never pretended to care. I didn’t need the rainbow flags in the first place, but for companies that flew them when they thought there was no risk and now won’t because of screeching haters, I’ll gladly go somewhere else.
What they do?
They smile in your face
All the time, they want to take your place
The back stabbers (Back stabbers)They smile in your face
All the time, they want to take your place
The back stabbers (Back stabbers)The O’Jays, Back Stabbers, 1972
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S STOP STORIES
Pass the Popcorn! Musk and Trump In Cage Match to the Death
Musk Threatens GOP Members Who Support Trump Bill
VFW Steps Up, Honors LGBTQ Veterans
Secretary of Drunk Dials Pete Hegseth Orders Renaming of USNS Harvey Milk
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This Week’s Survey: What’s Your Favorite Season?
We just went from wet and cold to hot and dry. Last week it was in the 50s with rain that fell for several days, and now it’s pushing 90. If it wouldn’t shorten my life by several years I could just eliminate summer altogether. I’m a spring and fall guy, and I enjoy the winters until they go on too long, which they always do. But hey, if dead is the alernative I’ll endure the summers somehow.
CLICK HERE to take the survey and weigh in. Multiple selections are allowed!
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
What’s your favorite type of murder mystery?
So hard-boiled I need a hammer 18.8 percent
Cozy is as cozy does 36.36 percent
Classic whodunit 40.91 percent
Procedural / historical / other 40.91 percent -
Health Beat: Insomnia in Older Adults – Causes, Impacts, and Solutions
By Mark McNease
I know this issue is common in older adults because I am one, and because most of the people in my life are, too.
It’s not uncommon these days for me to wake up at 3:00 a.m. It seems to have been a slow progression over the last few years of waking up earlier and earlier. And I’ve never been sure if insomnia is what I actually have. I used to think it meant the inability to fall asleep, something my mother dealt with for much of her adult life. She would stay up late into the night and eventually go to bed long after the rest of us were deep in slumber. That’s what I always thought insomnia was.
Now I know there are several forms of this condition. I’ve never had any trouble falling asleep. My problem is that I will wake up after three or four and be completely unable to go back to sleep. I end up getting out of bed and going into the living room, sometimes lying on the couch where I’m able to doze off again, but many other times simply staying up for the rest of the night until the sun rises and it’s socially acceptable for me to be active. What I’m never able to do is to remain in bed. I describe the feeling as that of being a turtle on its back. I’m not able to simply lie there staring at the ceiling or the wall. I have to get up and move.
Let’s take a look at this thing called insomnia and its various causes, impacts and solutions. Happy sleeping!
About Insomnia
Insomnia, characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or experiencing restful sleep, is a common issue among older adults. As we age, changes in sleep patterns and health can significantly affect sleep quality, impacting overall well-being.
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Savvy Senior: Essential Legal Documents All Seniors Should Have
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
What kinds of legal documents do I need to help my family take care of me in my elder years? I would like to get my affairs in order but could use some help.
Approaching 80
Dear Approaching,
All adults, especially an older adult like yourself, should have at least five legal documents to protect yourself and your family. These documents will make sure your wishes regarding your estate are legal and clear and will help minimize any conflicts and confusion with your family and your health care providers if you become seriously ill or when you die. Here are the key documents you need, along with some tips to help you create them.
Durable Power of Attorney: This document allows you to designate someone you trust to handle your financial affairs if you become incapacitated.
Advance Directive: This includes two documents that spell out your wishes regarding your end-of-life medical treatment. The two documents are a “living will” which tells your doctor what kind of care you want to receive if you become incapacitated. And a “health care power of attorney” (or health care proxy), which names a person you authorize to make medical decisions on your behalf if you’re unable.
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Loud and Proud at Philly Pride
We went to Philly Pride on Sunday. I haven’t been to a big city Pride event in years (Lambertville and New Hope don’t count), and I wanted to see one before they’re banned. Just kidding … not really.
We’re under continuous assault by the cross-wearing Christian Nationalists and their army of the half-dead. They continue to obsess over trangender people they’ve never met, but who they’re certain are coming for their children and their Bibles. They have always hated how expressive queer people are, and how unashamed of being ourselves we’ve somehow managed to become despite centuries (yes, centuries) of dehuminzation, criminalization and contempt. We think for ourselves, we celebrate ourselves, some of us wear nipple rings and nose rings and wedding rings, and they hate it. Their definition of freedom is the freedom to call use freaks, and to deny us services from room rentals to health care. They fantasize a god who demands whatever rules they imagine themselves bound by, and they want the rest us falling in line. So how about we fall in line dancing instead. Enjoy this video from Philly Pride, grab the nearest rainbow flag and fly it high with a twirl and a wink. Then do it again.
Six friends in Philly
Friends Gerry and Sean from NYC staying for a few days, and our neighbors Phil and Jim (together 50 years!) on a train trip to the City of Otherly Love.