Betsy Horvath's Blog, page 27
June 24, 2012
Lazy? Really? Well, Maybe…
A few weeks ago, I got one of those annoying memes* that spreads around Facebook like kudzu. In this one you were supposed to look at a word-cloud and pick out the first four words you saw. The first four words you saw are what describe you the best. I picked out the words “compassionate”, [...]
June 19, 2012
What I Learned In German Class
You might believe this post is a little self-evident. After all, what I learned in German class should be, um, German. And yes, it’s true. I did learn some helpful German phrases, such as Wo ist die Toilette? (where is the toilet?) But I also learned a lesson which has served me well over the [...]
June 17, 2012
Equipment
Back when I was a younger, free-spending Betsy, I used to shop from the Levenger catalog. I like to think of Levenger as pushers for the literary set. Their actual tagline is “tools for serious readers”. And let me tell you, those tools don’t come cheap. One time I decided that I needed a genuine [...]
June 14, 2012
Decisions
We all make decisions every day. Whether to wear this shirt or that one. Whether to go here or go there. How to discipline a child. Whether or not we should take offense at somebody else’s comments. We walk along the road of our lives, and suddenly we find that there are multiple [...]
June 12, 2012
Two Of My Favorite Gene Kelly Movies
I’ve been thinking about Gene Kelly lately. There are several reasons for this: 1) I’ve been arguing with my mother about which Gene Kelly movies are the best. She says “Summer Stock” and “Brigadoon”. I say “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Pirate”. She tolerates “Singin’ in the Rain” and she hates “The Pirate”. I [...]
June 10, 2012
Wisdom From Anne
Anne Lamott is a novelist, essayist, and frequent contributor to Salon.com. Some people don’t like her – she is definitely not shy about expressing her opinions. I don’t agree with everything she says, but I admire her greatly, not only for her wonderful book on writing (Bird by Bird), but also for her wit, thoughtfulness, [...]
June 7, 2012
One Of The Stupidest Things I’ve Ever Done
For some reason I’ve been listening to the songs of my teens and young adulthood this week. That means Meat Loaf, Queen, Styx (the Tommy Shaw songs, not Dennis DeYoung), Steve Miller Band, the Cars, and of course, Bruce Springsteen. I still love this music, and I still know all of the lyrics, even the [...]
June 5, 2012
When Mom Read My Book
Today is my mother’s 83rd birthday. It occurred to me recently that I don’t talk about my mother much here on the blog. If I’m talking about a parent, it tends to be my father. That might be because I’m in the throes of things with my mother, but I have the benefit of distance [...]
May 31, 2012
Walt’s Leaves
The lawn at the Palatial Horvath Estate has really enjoyed the rainy, warm, and humid weather we’ve been having lately. Over the past week the grass rose defiantly, screaming its supremacy, cackling madly and singing “Feed me, Seymour, feed me all night long.” As I walked down the path to my car, I could see [...]
May 29, 2012
Time Well Spent
I’ve been thinking a lot about my father lately. That’s partly because he would have turned 80 on May 4th. And it’s partly because of Memorial Day. And it’s also because I’m still learning things about him I didn’t know before. I didn’t always have the best relationship with Daddy – the fault for that [...]
