Jane Roper's Blog, page 11

Back in January I attempted to do a little writing retreat and failed spectacularly. There were a number of factors at play—personal, logistical and otherwise—but one of them, I’m pretty sure, was the fact that I didn’t have one big, fat mega project I was working on at the time. In other words, I wasn’t […]

When I was in my early twenties, and discovered that I wanted to be this thing called a writer, as opposed to just a copywriter, which I already was and continue to be to this day, I would get up an hour earlier than I needed to before work, pour myself an extremely large cup […]

One of the household tasks I find most unpleasant is dealing with the things the girls have outgrown: Clothes, shoes, toys, etc.  I regularly put off sorting through their cast-offs to determine out what to give to friends or others with younger kids, what to donate, what to save for posterity, and what to chuck. […]

A couple of months ago, Clio spoke the words that strike terror into every meat-eating parent’s heart: “I want to be a vegetarian.” OK, maybe not terror. But that feeling you get when you realize that you’re going to have to expend more of your mental energy. Which, if you’re a working parent, you know […]

As I’ve shared here many times in the past, I love taking the occasional writing getaway—sometimes by myself, sometimes with friends. Having the time and space, the detachment from work and family and household responsibilities, and a change of scene always works miracles in terms of my productivity. At least, it always has before. But […]

The title of this post is a phrase that makes me giggle. “Right on!” is such an awesome, late 70s kind of expression, right?  One that conjures Adidas running shorts (too short, green or blue, white piping) and tube socks and shaggy hair and roller skates and the smell of cigarette smoke and a tree-shaped […]

It’s Christmas Eve. I am 5 (or 8 or 10). My father has read “The Night Before Christmas” to my brother and me. We’ve hung our stockings and put out a plate of cookies, and now I’m lying in bed, awake, filled with a sense of wonder and anticipation, laced with a giddy sense of mystery. […]

In the story of my life that I tell myself and others, there are several periods that I think of as low ebbs in a mostly quite happy life—times where I struggled or suffered or felt generally crappy more than usual.  One of those times, which I’ve been known to characterize as the nadir of […]

When I look back on this year, one of the themes is loss. Not for me so much (well, not in the way I’m talking about here), but for a number of my friends. I need two hands to count how many—all of whom are in my own general age cohort—have lost fathers or mothers this […]

If you’re paying attention, and you’re feeling dismayed by current events or impending climate change or man’s inhumanity to man and other Big Stuff, or you’re stressing about the midterm elections, I’ve got some easy suggestions for soothing your soul. They work for me, anyway. Maybe they’ll work for you too. 1. Buying something cool! […]