A redhead in a dark green sweater whispered in my ear. “Did you ever break in those boots?”
I am usually pretty good at recognizing faces, but this woman?
I had nothing.
The redhead rattled off a few facts about my son. She knew about my attitudes toward gift giving for bar & bat mitzvahs. She knew I drank Canada Dry Ginger Ale. I was flummoxed. Who was this woman, and how did she know about my boots?
“I’m Madge!” she announced with a little curtsey.
“Madge…” I stuttered. “Madge.” I tried to get my synapses to fire, but my neurons were not being cooperative. Holy shizzlesticks! I thought. I think I have a stalker!
Finally, it hit me.
“Madge Madigan?!” I squealed a little too loud. “You don’t look like your avatar at all!”
I might not have recognized Madge because her mouth wasn’t bedazzled by a ginormous ring.
And that is how I met Madge from Madge’s Adult Survival Guide. Y’all, Madge is a hoot. This woman is not afraid to speak her mind. You like politics? Madge is controversial. You wanna hear from a woman who raised three kids, sometimes while on welfare? That’s Madge. You wanna know what type of person type you are at a party? Madge will tell you. Drop in on Madge, and tell her I sent you!
Can you believe I thought Madge was a stalker?
And no, Madge, my boots still pinch. I’ll let you know when I can wear those suckers for longer than four hours. Right now, I’m stuck on Band-Aids. (And Band-Aids are stuck on me.)
Meeting stalkers bloggers in real life is fun.
And speaking of bloggers, a bunch of them wrote fabulous stuff this month.
• • •
Chuck Wendig’s Failing Versus Quitting (Or; Your Lack of Confidence is Neither Interesting Nor Unique gives a good spanking to writers. But this post has applications that reach beyond the writing community. Got a dream you haven’t been following? Read Chuck’s post and take off those pants of shame and just run around all naked go do it.
Darla from She’s a Maineiac wrote about how she receives signals from her deceased father. I believe this is possible. I do.
Mary reminds us that receiving extravagant gifts is nothing to be ashamed of. (ateachablemom)
Marcia Richards’ Slow Blogging Manifesto made me breathe easier about blogging less frequently. David Walker wondered about this practice and wrote about it, too.
While the presidential election feels like it was a bajillion months ago, Kathy Owen wrote about the history of a woman’s right to vote. Good stuff.
August McLaughlin wrote about Girl Boners. Yes, she did. You wanna know what turns women on? And then what happens. Read this piece of hot stuff.
As usual, Alexandra at Good Day, Regular People says it just right. And her piece on Thanksgiving 101 well… just read THIS.
Gigi at Kludgy Mom wrote about feeling like she’d lost her mojo. Nice to know big bloggers feel this way sometimes, too.
Both Pegoleg and ArtyOldBird wondered about the whole “Freshly Pressed” thing. Lord knows, getting Freshly Pressed on my birthday was a wonderful surprise, and — frankly — my piece didn’t stack up to either of these.
Lisha (The LuckyMom) got to see the performance of a lifetime when an awkward boy stood up to make a public speech.
So proud of Amber West over there in my magical sidebar of love. Her book The Ruth Valley Missing is now available on Amazon! Be sure to watch for the next Tingo Tuesday. Apparently, people who land in my sidebar get their books published. Congratulations, Amber!
Can’t wait to share more of your delicious nom noms next month!
renée a. schuls-jacobson 