The 25 Hour Day

By Liza Blue / November 7, 2011 /

Tonight we turn our clocks back, and the general consensus is that everyone should enjoy an extra hour of sleep.  While true when I was in college, it hasn’t quite been the blessing ever since.  When I was in medical school we would scan the “on call” schedule and pray that it was not our…

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Chapters 7-9: Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery

By Liza Blue / October 31, 2011 /

Prior chapters of the Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery are filed in the Murder Mystery category   Chapter 7 The police station was actually not far from Ralph and Fanny’s. The city had gotten a good deal on the empty lot that Sam Todd had targeted for a Costco and had built a new “green”…

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Unfinished Business

By Liza Blue / October 27, 2011 /

I have been on a math kick recently, having rediscovered math in last year’s experiment in retaking the SATs after a 40 year hiatus. (See prior posts filed under “SAT Experience.”)  A previous essay described my quest to finally understand why you can’t divide by zero (Grokking It), but now I realize that I have one…

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Grokking It

By Liza Blue / October 17, 2011 /

Grok: to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science. ——– Last year’s experience of retaking the SATs reminded me of a mathematical mystery left over from high school, namely why…

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Bury the Habit

By Liza Blue / October 12, 2011 /

A couple of weeks ago I spent a very entertaining Sunday evening at a church social that included an after dinner comedienne discussing the foibles of empty nesting. At the end of the presentation, the comedienne announced a trivia contest with prizes. She quickly cautioned us not to get excited and competitive since the prizes…

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Chapter 6 Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery

By Liza Blue / October 4, 2011 /

Prior chapters are filed in the Murder Mystery category.   As I drove back down the canyon, I tried to recreate the conversation and find the little lie.   That was often the first and best clue to a case.  No relationship can survive on a steady diet of the brutal truth, and the real test is…

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Chapter 5 Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery

By Liza Blue / October 4, 2011 /

Prior chapters are filed in the Murder Mystery category.   I went home, showered and changed to get that bedraggled look out of my eyes.  I had learned over the years that clients expect a certain look out of a PI – it was always a mistake to dress too fancy, because then it would…

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Chapter 4 Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery

By Liza Blue / October 4, 2011 /

Prior chapters are in the Murder Mystery category.   I got in the car and took a quick peek inside the purse, hoping to find a cell phone or address book.  A driver’s license would be nice.  There was such a jumble of junk that I knew I couldn’t dissect the contents in such cramped…

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Chapter 3 Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery

By Liza Blue / October 4, 2011 /

Prior chapters can be found in the murder mystery category. Laurel and Greenbay was just on the outskirts of the business center where it abutted the college campus.  This area included the usual array of college business, an all night pizza joint, a hemp clothing store and a second hand book store.  I parked the…

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Slipping out of the Demographic

By Liza Blue / September 29, 2011 /

Age 50 has always been considered a significant milestone, spawning endless parties, toasts, silly hats and, dare I say it, trite doggerel.  However, I have come to regard age 50 as merely another year, significant only because of our 10 digits and the resulting base 10 method of counting.  Far more significant is age 54,…

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