Kathryn Mayer • Writing Out Loud
I write stuff down. writer • humorist • activist
My dad was a math and computer science professor at a local community college in Poughkeepsie, New York. A smart guy. Very smart. Unassumingly smart. The guy at Trivia Pursuit who answered correctly despite asleep and snoring across the room. Listening to a radio caller blowing raspberries with their lips and groaning over the phone over the radio, my dad would be like, yep: catalytic converter, outsmarting Click & Clack
Nobody else is flinching. They’re all breathing. In and out. In. And. Out. Eyes gently shut, all the women are centered on their mats, breathing, hands at heart center, I can’t help but think like a praying mantis. Who kill their partner after sex. via GIPHY But these women don’t seem violent at all, they’re all super chill. I know, because my eyes are wide open and I’m scanning the
My darling daughter, Kid3, is traveling the world, Southeast Asia to be exact, solo, because she’s smart, brave, exciting, and adventurous. Plus, she graduated college early, saving me a boatload of money, so before the job and cubicle and 401k responsibilities kick in for the next 50 years, she packed a bag and left on a jet plane. For a month. Which is measure by 30 odd days. And cycles.
My therapist broke up with me. He revealed his wife had cancer, and when I asked which kind, and he answered “Gall Bladder,” and I said good, immediately, with zero hesitation, probably with a smile, and suddenly his kind and peaceful face was no longer. And the thing is, is that I meant it. Tuesdays are chemo day, the day before what used to be therapy day, when I’m a
When your grown ass kid, now all adultish with a paycheck, 401k and bills of her own, asks if you to go on a ski weekend with her you better well say yes. So when Kid2 invited me, I didn’t hesitate: you’re goddamn right I will because those teenage years were no picnic and now I get to hang with an awesome human. She texted – nobody calls, geesh mom –
While it seems the entire country is cleaning up and clearing out closets, cupboards, and creepy, crawly basements by saying good-bye to items that no longer spark joy, some people aren’t feeling the magic. Marie Kondo, the best-selling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is helping thousands (maybe millions with a new Netflix show), clear lives of clutter and keep only what sparks joy.
There were three of us standing around, after a meeting, chatting. Making small talk, about the elections, work, kids. One of the somebodies brought up my blog, commented they read something I wrote and really, really liked it (which I can never hear too much of). She then asked what I’m working on now. “Oh, I dunno. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and how to do
New Year, new list. Or maybe it’s just a matter of moving old items to a new list, therefore making it a new list of old items. Like carrying over vacation days from last year to this. Use them or lose them. Anyway, I’ve touted writing goals down to accomplish them, so in an effort to stay true to that resolution, here’s a new list, and we’ll see how it
An irreverent storyteller with a foul mouth and big heart, Kathryn Mayer (also known by Kathy and Kate), is a writer, humorist, and activist writing out loud with humor and grace about the little moments of life with big ripples, including parenting, social issues, midlife, and, sigh, gun violence prevention. Sometimes a big deal, sometimes not Mayer is national award-winning columnist, according to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and her essays have been recognized as Voice of the Year from SheKnows/BlogHer, named Best … Read More Here...
kate[at]kathrynmayer[dot]com
xo Kate