“Out of Arkansas” excerpt
by Sheilah Zimpel

It was election year 2000. My husband and I made a bet—if Bush won, we’d vacation in Sundance, Utah. If Gore, to Italy. Since there was no clear victor, we bought some land in Arkansas. That’s what a hanging chad will do for you.

The Gleam in Our Eyes

Once upon a time Dave said to me: “Sheilah, you can have anything you want, baby, after you put me through school.” At the time he was trying to convince me to give up the big house where we’d lived for only nine months and downsize so that he could go back to school full time. I wanted to quit work right then, now that I couldn’t, but he had put me through school earlier in our marriage and I hadn’t even asked—I just quit work one day and went. At least he asked, and waited for an answer. Once his college dream was accomplished, that promise would come back to haunt us....click here

Elastic to Plastic
by Dawn Tolson

Stress is a common word used today as much as “and” and “but.” Our lives are often built on foundations of stress. Some people even confess they operate better, whether it is for work or pleasure, when under stress. However, we all reach our stress limit, our topple-over-the-top moment, at some point in our lives. Some reach it more often than others do, but it is human nature. Our stress limit is not a tangible thing—we can’t reach out and touch it, but we can stretch it. It lies solely within our own mental power. We control it, it does not control us; but ironically, when we reach it, more often than not we lose or feel out of control.

In engineering there is a process commonly known as elastic to plastic (deformation). When a construction material, say metal, is put under stress it can stretch....click here

An Olympian, a Psychiatrist, and a Milkshake
by Mary Alford-Carman

When I was little and did something out of line, pushing my father to the point of frustration (like bouncing 300 times on the toddler bed until it broke, or following him around while I incessantly talked), he would ask, “Are you crazy?” I’d laugh because it was mostly comical. When he was really upset his eyes would flash and I knew trouble was coming, but those times of “crazy” talk didn’t bother me. As I grew older and into the angst-ridden, hormonal bouncing of my early teen years, Daddy extended the saying to, “Are you crazy? I ought to take you to a psychiatrist.” Again, it didn’t faze me, or so I thought.

I used to go to my parents’ office after school when I reached my teens. They were self-employed and had a couple of houses they had renovated into offices to lease and it also housed my Dad and Mom’s businesses...click here

Can Y’all Hear Me NOW?
by Evelyn Cooper

I’m just gonna admit, I’m doggone tired and right ill over how some people act. It just ain’t right and ain’t gone matter just how many bless their pea pickin’ little hearts, I do, I just don’t feel no better.

In other words – if you are not from the South, DO NOT imitate me and how I speak. Saying y’all does not make you Southern. Instead it often comes across as condescending and arrogant. It’s not cute.

It seems to be perfectly acceptable to most media, many politicians, and all of the entertainment industry to point out the stupidity and intolerance of Southerners. We are fair game. May I ever so politely point out that if such stereotypes were still being portrayed of others, it would be decried and sensationalized for its ignorance.

But not us, y’all, we’re fair game in the “let’s make a point at someone’s expense” category....click here