By Beth Gulley For the last few days I have pestered everyone I know about the state budget cuts. On Saturday I learned the state had drastically cut funding to the arts which could limit opportunities for my children as well as eliminate some of my favorite events. On Monday I learned the state cut [...]
By Beth Gulley According to the TV commercials I’ve been watching lately, next Monday I should expect my husband to take me out to an expensive restaurant, give me jewelry, a new car, strawberries dipped in chocolate and red roses. All the while, I will be wearing a beautiful dress that doesn’t itch, pinch or [...]
By Beth Gulley Remember the last time you were at a restaurant and the person you were dining with wouldn’t quit texting? Or the last time you were in a house of worship and you looked over and saw someone in the next aisle playing on facebook? In my role as a college teacher, I [...]
By Beth Gulley I heard a scholar of Ancient Chinese speak on Thursday morning, and he encouraged us to look beyond our usual expectations when we judge China’s progress. He called this concept first tier and second tier human rights. Later in the week I had a birthday, and I decided to misapply the speaker’s [...]
By Beth Gulley The trick to crafting a good New Year’s resolution lies in breaking your larger goals down into their smallest components, and then choosing the right qualifier to go along with them. For example, I like to shop at garage sales and thrift stores, but I don’t have the desire or opportunity to [...]
By Beth Gulley With only a few weeks to go in the semester, we are entering the time of year when I wish Madeline L’Engle’s idea of the tesseract would apply to time in our space. For those of you who have not read A Wrinkle in Time, L’Engle uses the idea of the tesseract [...]
By Beth Gulley I really love a good holiday—it takes people off the streets and puts them safely in the shopping malls. I guess if we are talking about black Friday, “safely” is the wrong word. There is nothing like getting up at 3:00 a.m. to be trampled to death for a Nintendo Wii. In [...]
By Beth Gulley All the fun Fall Festivals and outdoor activities this time of year remind me that my physical age and my mental age don’t match. My birth certificate says I am 36, but I still feel a sense of wonder, innocence and joy in silly everyday things like I did when I was [...]
A pile of new school supplies sits in the corner of my living room waiting to be sorted into backpacks and taken to school tomorrow. New school shoes wait in shopping bags at the top of the stairs, and new clothes wait to be put on and worn for first day of school photos. New [...]