Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
Washington State's Death With Dignity Act: A Gratefully Received But Rarely Used Prescription
"People who pursue Death with Dignity tend to be individuals who want to be independent and want to have control over the conditions and timing of their final moments of life," said Elizabeth Trice Loggers, M.D., Ph.D., corresponding author and medical director of SCCA’s Supportive and Palliative Care Service. more »
Ferida's Wolff's Backyard Series: Lovely Lavender and Pretty Pinks
Ferida writes: Lavender has a long history of medicinal use and is a staple in aromatherapy. Some is proven, some not, but it is used in a variety of applications for many conditions. One of its uses is for its calming effect. The oil embraces the whole body in the bath. Inhaled, it seems to relax tension and may help with insomnia. I don’t want to neglect something that has been blooming all through the winter — my African Violet. I don’t take my it for granted. I know it needs proper tending.
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When It Comes to Bodies in the Library, US Writers Take the Lead Over UK Rivals
British crime and thriller writers are being bumped off by their American counterparts, according to the latest tabulation of the Most Borrowed Adult Fiction Titles in UK libraries. No less than 17 novels by US-based crime and thriller writers appear in the Top 20 Most Borrowed Adult Fiction Titles list. more »
Advice to Little Girls by Mark Twain —You ought never to "sass" old people unless they "sass" you first
Mark Twain writes in 1865: "You ought never to take your little brother's 'chewing-gum' away from him by main force; it is better to rope him in with the promise of the first two dollars and a half you find floating down the river on a grindstone. In the artless simplicity natural to this time of life, he will regard it as a perfectly fair transaction. In all ages of the world this eminently plausible fiction has lured the obtuse infant to financial ruin and disaster." more »
