By Marion Roach Smith
SOMETIMES THE NEWS is simply too stupid to be ignored. Don’t agree? Did you read what the writer V.S. Naipual said recently about women writers? No? You should. Read on.
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Marion Roach Smith
By Marion Roach Smith
THE MEMOIR PROJECT is the name of my new book. Accompanied by the subtitle, A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, the book’s title reflects it contents – a little irreverent, while being very how-to about writing what you know. When it was time to give a title to the book, those words seemed to sum it up best. Read on.
By Marion Roach Smith
WHEN SISTERS HELP one another we all benefit. This was the feeling I had recently while cruising around, looking for some book promotion advice. I stumbled upon some, and came away with that unique and fabulous feeling I only get when I witness one woman helping out another, and have only to keep the good moving along to help some more. You know that feeling?
By Marion Roach Smith
I WAS BORN in the Little Neck Branch of the New York Public library system. Right next to the card catalogue. That’s the way I remember it, and I’m sticking to that story no matter what, as well as to the version that I also came of age there, and engaged in all manners of important transitions in or because of the library. And do you doubt me? Read on.
THE MIDDLE ROAD. That’s where Paige and Marion, our Aries kin, are headed this month according to Sheilaa Hite’s May forecast. It’s a bit of a foreign place for Marion (Find out why.) As for Paige, the middle seems a journey that will likely extend far past this month, so meanwhile she’s enlisted some help to get her there. Read about it here.
SISTERHOODS ARE PRECIOUS, though every once in a while one reveals itself to you, and makes you stop in your flats (or heels), and take stock of the genuine value of the connection.
Maybe this happens to you all the time. Not to Marion, which is why a recent chance encounter is one she has to share
By Marion Roach Smith
DO THEY TALK? Do they have names? If they talk and have names, do they speak of anything other than men? These are the questions raised by a fascinating test that rates the movies that come out each year, and guess who the “they” in those phrases refer to, sister? That’s right. Us. And guess what else? Most movies fail this fine test. The Bechdel Test was new to me when I read about it in this week’s “New Yorker.” Find out more here, and meet the testers.
On this, the Vernal Equinox, the Sun rises exactly in the east, travels through the sky for 12 hours and sets exactly in the west, says our resident almanac expert, Marion. On the Equinox this is the motion of the Sun through the sky for everyone on earth, with all of us together experiencing the same 12 hours of sunlight. A lovely thing to ponder, maybe we should all consider how nature provides for us strong indicators of our sameness. Learn more.
By Marion Roach Smith
March 19, 2011 is the full moon, this month known as the Full Worm Moon. We take our full moon names from our Native American traditions, though the full moon of march has many other names as well as this one. Want to learn more?
Me, on the swim team, before I knew the 15 Rules.
ASKING FOR HELP. Oh, was that a shudder I saw go down your spine? What is it about asking for help that sets women on edge? No, I’m not talking about calling a babysitter. I’m talking about asking for real help, reaching out and saying “I’m not sure what to do,” or “I’m not good at this at all,” or “This makes me shake.” Maybe you are an exception to this, but I only recently came to extol the virtues of the skill of asking for help. And now I think I’ll plant a “Help Wanted” sign on my lawn. And why not? Read on.
By Marion Roach Smith
GO ASK ALICE. That single lyric sent me down and through the rabbit hole the other day as I was cruising around with my new Sirius/XM car radio. Well, there was a car attached, though to me the vehicle was but a large sound system in which I was happily ensconced, a magic carpet ride back to the days when I sang in rock bands. Now there is a sentence to curls the hair of one’s child, yes? I sang in rock bands, and with the help of my new car’s radio, I’m back belting out the songs I covered, re-upping my love for the playlist of my life. Listen in.
Me, on the swim team, before I knew the 15 Rules.
PAIGE DID IT. She broke the rules. She knew she was doing it as she did it, and she did it anyway. We were in a Skype call when she did it, and we sighed the collective sigh of the TSP sisterhood when she did, since we’ve all done the same thing, broken the same rule, and will do it again, probably as soon as today. Is this the one you break most, as well?
SISTER SHEILAA SAYS that Marion and her Aires kin are to take some time out this month and “visit a zoo, botanical garden or butterfly reserve.” Now Marion couldn’t be more pleased with this prediction, since guess who will be speaking at such a venue this February? Find out the details.
First time here? Here's the idea: TSP is a network of blogs about the many facets of the word sister, and the concept of sisterhood. A sisterhood of sister blogs, you could say. Whatever sister means to you, from identical twin to sister-in-law (or in-friendship or in-feminism), we’ll make room to listen in about it or express it on TSP. Like the slogan up top says, “Don’t you have something to say to your sister?” We've got galleries of art and literature by and about sisters, and a Sisterpedia of sisterly trivia...but now we're getting ahead of ourselves. The quick study: 
As the suffix of its name suggests, 
No surprise, really, that sisterhood, often life’s longest relationship and always one of its most important, has been the Muse for so much creative self-expression by women, and also by men. 
