Archive for June 2017

On keeping and telling secrets: don't carry it all

Tonight is our monthly blogapalooz-hour. Our community manager gives us a prompt at 9 p.m. and we post exactly an hour later. Tonight’s prompt was to tell about an important decision we’ve made. Many years ago I settled in to read a pile of papers from my first-year students. I was still in graduate school... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 28, 2017 at 10:00 pm • 

You don’t have to throw the whole dessert out just because the ice cream melts

You don’t have to throw the whole dessert out just because the ice cream melts
I’ve been binge watching The Great British Baking Show, Season 1. It’s surprisingly anxiety producing and after two episodes I was completely hooked. By the end of the season I was downright weepy. Episode 4, however, smacked me up side the head with some reminders about mindfulness, balance, black and white thinking, and giving up.... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 24, 2017 at 11:15 pm • 

We’ve got to stop calling doctor-patient communication “bedside manner”

We’ve got to stop calling doctor-patient communication “bedside manner”
To my ears, “bedside manner” sounds patronizing. It involves a kindly, elderly doctor sitting at your bedside, holding your hand and telling you everything’s going to be fine in a soothing voice. Marcus Welby, M.D. comes to mind. When I hear people say that a doctor doesn’t have a good bedside manner, I wonder what... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 23, 2017 at 2:57 pm • 
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Before and after: sometimes things do get better

I imagined a narrow tunnel stretching from my neigbors' backyard through mine. Nope.
Almost three years ago, I learned the words “sewer rodding.” A drill bit of sorts is put into the sewer line and cuts through the roots that have intruded. There is a camera, too, so that the plumbers can see what’s there. In our case, they saw problems. The biggest, though not the only one, was... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 19, 2017 at 12:41 pm • 

I'd rather be in the middle of a swirl of noise and voices

I'd rather be in the middle of a swirl of noise and voices
When I was in my early 20s, my mom told my fiancé (now ex-husband), “You need to remember that Kerri needs lots of time alone.” I was frequently struck by my mother’s confident knowledge about me that was completely wrong. She once told me, at dinner at a friend’s house, to take some peas. “Kerri... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 19, 2017 at 7:22 am • 

I believe, in the style of Crash Davis

Our community manager, Jimmy Greenfield, wrote about Crash Davis’s monologue in Bull Durham, “I believe,” almost 15 years ago. Three years ago he challenged us to write our own “I Believe” pieces. I finally got around to it. I believe that homemade bread can sooth a troubled heart, that thunder can rattle our bones, and... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 17, 2017 at 11:30 pm • 
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A material girl traveling light

A material girl traveling light
I’m not a fan of travel. Or, maybe, I’m just a fan of staying home. Despite this, I’ve had the great privilege of traveling more than the average person.  I’ve enjoyed just about everywhere I’ve ended up. I love hotel rooms. I love miniatures: miniature shampoo, miniature gin, miniature jam. When I give myself the... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 16, 2017 at 5:03 pm • 

To the woman at Starbucks: your mom deserves better than your contempt

Dear Woman in Starbucks, I’ll own the fact that I was in a judgmental place a few days ago when I saw you and your family at Starbucks. Your story is, no doubt, complicated and full of gray. I can never know what your lives are like, what you’ve suffered and how you’ve struggled. All... Read more »
By Kerri K. Morris,
June 12, 2017 at 1:53 am •