Archive for January 2022

So what if I’m a middlebrow?

A couple of novels my book group recently read have me thinking about my preference for plain, direct writing. The latest was Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, a semi-autobiographical novel by a gay Vietnamese immigrant in the guise of a letter to his illiterate mother. Widely praised by critics, On Earth We’re Briefly... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 31, 2022 at 8:56 am
• 5 comments

Shhhh: I have an Android phone

The former IT person in the publications office where I worked was so rah-rah Apple that I would be embarrassed to bring out my Android phone in front of him. All of the former coworkers with whom I communicate have iPhones.  A longtime Mac computer user, as I am, apparently betrays the family by buying... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 24, 2022 at 8:05 am
• 7 comments

Shopping for a used cellphone

Most Americans trade in their cellphones every two to three years, according to Statista. My Moto E4 is five years old this month. It runs on outdated Android 7.1 and holds a charge for only a few hours. A new phone is warranted. I imagine that many people are fine with buying locked phones usable... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 17, 2022 at 7:51 am
• 2 comments
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Hard to give it away

Do you think it’s hard to declutter? Wait until you try to find places to take unwanted china and furniture. The apartment from which my mother moved had a sleeper sofa, a wing chair, matching end and coffee tables, a pullout dining table, a recliner, a china cabinet, a dinette table and four chairs, and... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 10, 2022 at 10:40 am
• 2 comments

Observing rapid aging, and it's not pretty

The last few months have been a scary vision of the ravages of aging. Until my mother declined precipitously after a fall in August, I didn’t perceive her as feeble and infirm. Other than using a walker, she did not seem 94. She was always fastidiously groomed, wore a wig, and was known as a... Read more »
By Marianne Goss,
January 3, 2022 at 10:48 am
• 3 comments