I’ve got a confession to make. It’s really shameful and embarrassing. Here it is: Even though I have both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English, I’ve never read Jane Eyre, nor anything else by the Bronte clan. Despite all those years of reading,…

It was dark and glossy, the color of coffee, and when she plaited it in braids, she could sit on them. My mother’s hair at 19 must have been something to see. Most of the time, she pinned it around her head, ever the practical…

It’s been spring for almost a month as I sit down to write this, but the sky is full of snow. It falls furiously on my sprightly daffodils. It lands in our new bird bath, the one we had to buy when last week’s hailstorm…

Blame it on the Chili Cheese Fritos. On our way from Dubuque to Ann Arbor for yet another visit to the Michigan Extreme Headache Institute, we’d pulled over at a rest stop to, you know, rest. It was two in the afternoon Iowa time, three…

I’ve been thinking about retirement lately. Not that I’m ready to turn in my resignation, sit in a conference room handing out cake, or activate my 403(b) just yet. It’s just that some of my older friends are making noises about calling it quits, and…

As I write this, the Oscars have just been handed out, and “The King’s Speech” has won Best Picture, a prize it richly deserves. Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, and Helena Bonham Carter were superb, as well as the director and screenwriter. I love the scene…

Writing poems isn’t easy. Getting them published is ridiculous. You look for places that publish poetry, send them out, remembering to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope, even if you don’t want them back, and then wait. Sometimes you wait six months to find out their…

You’ve no doubt heard about the Tiger Mother controversy. Either you’ve read excerpts or seen its attractive author interviewed – more like grilled – on some talk show or other. You’ve heard about the death threats, and the voices of support, including those of her…

Two weeks ago I was forcibly made a member of a Facebook group. I didn’t know this could happen, and I also didn’t know this group existed. But it was okay with me. The group is called “West High Reunion,” and as soon as I…

There is a gigantic billboard on Highway 151 between Dubuque and Madison that kills me every time I see it. Its message is simple: “Call Your Parents.” My response, though unspoken, is always the same: Oh, how I wish I could. I still remember the…

One of my work vendors gave me a planner for 2011. It was a nice gift, as freebies go, but I can’t say I’m going to use it. Instead, I’m thinking of making some anti-plans, if I have to make any at all. Here’s a…

The strangest thing has happened, now that I’ve joined Facebook. A person who used to be very important to me, the one I most often referred to as my “best friend,” has resurfaced. I don’t mean she has asked to “friend” me – hardly that.…

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has seen my work nametag and asked if I’m related to another Kress in the greater Dubuque area. It usually happens on the elevator. My favorite is, “Are you related to Father Kress?” Nope, sorry.…

I spent a lot of time last week trying to figure out next year’s Flexible Spending Account. If you have one of these at work, you know what I’m talking about. If not, let’s see if I can explain. This is the government’s (the IRS,…

I love libraries. I mean, what’s not to love? They’ve got DVDs, computers, audio books, magazines, newspapers from all over, and, oh yeah! Books! And it’s all free, if not to check out then to use to your heart’s content there at the library, in…

I love pessimism. It’s so relaxing. So non-threatening. It says: Don’t even try. Whereas optimism requires such work. You have to hope. You have to dream, preferably big. You have to let a smile be your umbrella on a rainy, rainy day. Because, after all,…

In Anne Lamott’s novel Imperfect Birds, there is a moment in which the main character’s father notes that her skill with physics is genetic, “like the noticing gene necessary for being a good writer.” I haven’t yet read this book – a friend quoted it…

If anybody knows how to read a book, it should be a librarian, right? You’d think I’d be an expert. I wish I had a dollar for every time somebody has walked into whichever library I’m working at and said, “Have you read all these…

I love it when something completely wild sneaks into the city. (And no, I’m not talking about Bryce’s last party.) I’m talking mostly about animals, the ones we tend to think dwell mostly in National Parks, there for our pleasure, but far enough into the…

I gave a sermon the other Sunday. Well, it wasn’t really a sermon – a best, a sermonette – but more of a presentation on a famous Unitarian. The Dubuque Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, as wonderful a group of people as you could hope to meet,…