Not Born Yesterday

Doing the write thing.

by E.E. Smith

What Does A Vroomgirl Want?

Sigmund Freud, who famously and perhaps peevishly, asked the question, "What does a woman want?" might be surprised to know what a Vroomgirl wants. Of course, Freud never met a Vroomie, nor ever imagined such a thing. Read More

Can't Fight 'Em? Join 'Em!

No one likes to say "I've changed my mind about that." It goes against human nature, although politicians do it all the time. Read More

Still Standing Up for Stockton

Last year at this time I wrote about Stockton, a California community whose mayor was "mad as hell" at Forbes Magazine for naming it "America's Most Miserable City," but this year I can report that it has dropped to eleventh place (and therefore off Forbes' chart of the Ten Most Miserable). Read More

Are You in a Dead End Job?

Many people returned to work at the beginning of 2012 with the same thought in mind: where am I going in this job? Even if you truly enjoy your work, you are not alone in this perennial concern about "doing the same old thing, year after year." This is especially true if you have been in the same job for a long time. Read More

Psychology in the Bedroom

A noted specialist has come out with a simple prescription for what to do (and not to do) in the bedroom. As he explains it: "Psychologically, people need to use the bedroom for sleeping and making love, and not much else." Read More

Home for the Holidays

Tony Bennett left his heart here, Mark Twain said the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer here, and it's where I'm from, originally. In the "good old days," a trip to my City by the Bay was a pleasure any time, but especially just before Christmas. Read More

Brain Freeze, Texas Style

Until a recent GOP political debate, I had never heard the term "brain freeze," and I would almost bet that Governor Rick Perry of Texas hadn't heard it either (and surely hopes that he never has to hear it again). Seeing it further described as a "retrieval failure, memory lapse, or drawing a blank" helped to put the thing in perspective for me. Read More

Folk Remedies: Curatives or Curiosities?

Doctors are taking another look at folk remedies and saying that some cannot be dismissed as mere superstition. Now, I don't know if this one is old or new, but have you heard of the Raisins-Soaked-in-Gin remedy for arthritis? I'm not making this up. Read More

"We, the Jury..."

When our children are young, we try to instill a sense of sportsmanship by telling them that "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." Sadly, when they grow up they may find out differently. Read More

Furry Friends to the Rescue

If you are old enough to remember the Lassie movies, you may recall how she (Lassie was really a male, but we didn't know that at the time) could drag someone out of a burning building, and perform other amazing feats for a dog. Today there are real-life "Lassies" coming home with wounded servicemen and women from the wars, contributing to their recovery, and even saving their lives. Read More

In An Age of Discrimination

Forget gender bias. Much has happened in the three decades since I was a victim of that kind of discrimination. Back then I was competing with men in the aircraft industry, and trying to convince airline executives that I was just as good a designer as male candidates for the job. But one executive wasted no time in telling me, "I will not have a woman designing my aircraft ... Read More

Procrastination: A Basic Human Instinct

I've been putting this off for months. Some time ago I read a review in The New Yorker of a book called "The Thief of Time," a collection of essays on the subject of procrastination. I have also put off buying the book because it costs $65, but I did enjoy the review. Read More

The Things You Learn from Dear Abby!

Faithful readers of Dear Abby's advice column occasionally see a letter that seems to speak directly to them. It happened to me when I read one from a woman who said her daughter is self-centered, lies compulsively, and does not consider the consequences of her actions. The girl has been diagnosed with something called narcissistic personality disorder. Read More

Seeing Stars

Nothing in my breeding or background should have brought me any closer to the stage than Row E, Center (to misquote a line from the movie, "All About Eve.") Nothing, that is, unless you count my father's youngest brother, who was a dead ringer for Errol Flynn and worked as the star's stand-in double for many of his films in the 1930s and 40s. Read More

Standing Up for Stockton

The citizens of Stockton are "mad as hell," according to the mayor of this mid-California community, and they have labeled Steve Forbes an "evil dictator," comparable to recently deposed leaders of the Arab world. At issue is Forbes Magazine calling Stockton -- for the second time, no less! -- America's Most Miserable City.

I think this is patently unfair. Read More

The Party's Over

Whatever happened to "singing telegrams?" If you are too young to remember the guys in Western Union caps who rang the bell and burst into a chorus of "Happy Birthday To You" as soon as the door was opened, well, you're lucky. Read More

Schools Serving Psychology for Lunch

I don't know about this. There's a new study which would have us believe that kids will make better choices in school cafeteria lines if a little psychology is used... Read More

No Match for Adversity

I am on a crusade to resurrect actor James Mason (1909 - 1984). I don't mean the man himself, of course, but the body of his work. With his classic good looks, a voice like black velvet and superb acting ability, he should have been as popular and well known as his younger contemporary, Richard Burton. Read More

Ten Careers with High Rates of Depression

As if the holiday season were not depressing enough for some of us, (me, for instance!) along comes a new study that suggests we might also have chosen a career with a high rate of depression. Read More

Oklahoma Is OK!

Luckily, my small SkyWest airplane broke through the thick black clouds over Oklahoma City and touched down at Will Rogers World Airport before those same clouds unleashed a torrent of wind, thunder, lightening and hailstones the size of marbles.

Hearing that your oldest friend is dying is not how anyone would choose to start the day. But there it was, a message from his wife, saying that he was "sinking fast." Although I knew he had recently suffered a stroke, it was a shock to think that someone I had known for so long might be gone tomorrow. Read More

What's in a Name?

I was a latecomer to the Feminist Movement, or "Women's Lib," which I vaguely recall beginning sometime in the late 1960s. In fact, I might have missed it altogether had I not been rudely awakened by the sound of the front door closing behind my husband of twenty years, who was leaving to find his "space." (My play, "Revelations: A game for Two or More Couples," is written with him in mind. Read More

Beyond Hollywood

A psychologist might say that my life has been heavily, if not unduly, influenced by the movies. Born into a generation before the advent of television, and one still suffering the effects of the Great Depression, films were our main source of entertainment. Read More

A Death in the Family

Every year, on the anniversary of my only sibling's death, I think once again about her funeral. Like most people, I hate funerals but generally attend out of a sense of obligation -- not to the dead, but to the living. In my opinion, the dead would never notice my absence, but friends and family of the deceased would. Read More

Is It Time to Tear Up the Contract?

"Breaking up is hard to do," as the old song says, but sometimes it's necessary. A recent article suggests that your career relationship may not be so different from any other, even a romantic one. You may go through good times and bad times together, try to compromise and make it work, but in the end it just isn't any good. Maybe you only need a vacation. Read More

Bored to Death? Maybe It's Time to Dump Your Doctor!

I don't often read scientific articles unless or until they appear in the mainstream press, but two of them caught my eye not long ago. One asked the question, "Can you literally be bored to death?" and the other, "Is it time to break up with your doctor?" Read More

In Praise of Book Publishers

Book publishers come in all sizes, from the giants of the industry like Macmillan, with multiple sub-companies, or "imprints," to the small, independents with few books in print and, often enough, fewer employees. It is the small, independent publishers that deserve our praise as well as our concern, for in today's world, they are the ones most in jeopardy. Read More

Chasing Ewan McGregor

What to do if you are completely, irrationally and compulsively obsessed with someone or something? Write a book, of course! Read More

The Stress Factor

Pity the first-time author, the "new kid on the block," so to speak (in spite of being a senior citizen). Three years ago I felt extremely lucky to have my first novel accepted by a fairly well-known publisher. Read More

Write Your Way Out of Depression

Years ago, after the sudden death of my husband, I fell into a deep depression. During therapy in the months that followed, mine proved to be a classic case. Of course, depression is not necessarily a sign that someone has suffered a devastating loss. Many people (and I am one of them) feel a little depressed around the holidays, for instance. Read More