Brenda Reeves
Bio
I'm a writer, visual artist, animal lover and free spirit. Minimalism is my motto. I recently sold my car and live with the bare necessities of life. It's the only way to be truly free in this world of chaos.
Stories (23)
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Learning a Foreign Language is a Process
I began studying Spanish on Duolingo two years before I moved to Mexico. Duolingo is a free app that teaches 40 languages, including sign language using spaced repetition. I felt brain dead at first because I couldn't retrieve the words when I wanted them. I couldn't think in Spanish.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Education
The Burbs Are a Lonely Place
Joy Behar, a T.V. personality on The View, said she lived in L.A. for two years, and she's never been so lonely in her life. She claimed she had a relationship with Jack at Jack-in-the-Box. I completely understood what she meant, although she didn't elaborate on it.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Humans
The Digital Age Wins
As a baby boomer, I remember the good old days when the bookmobile stopped in the neighborhood. My reading started taking off in first or second grade, and I loved it. The first time the bookmobile parked around the corner from my house, a friend and I checked out a stack of books, dropped them off at home, and went back for another stack. I hid this stack under my shirt, thinking my mother wouldn’t see it, and admonish me for checking out so many books. She was busy in the kitchen cooking dinner.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in 01
A Cat Named Annabel Lee
I'm not sure why I named my cat after Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee. I think maybe the tone and rhythm attracted me. If you aren't familiar with the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Annabel Lee is a lyric poem about Poe's deceased wife, or at least that's what many people think. That's as far as any similarities go between my Annabelle Lee and Poe's.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Petlife
At What Age Should You Stop Getting Pets
I've loved animals all my life, and they've loved me. When my mother and my aunt passed away, I kept their dogs, Toby and Jo Jo. They left this world knowing their beloved pets would be cared for and loved. It doesn't always have a happy ending.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Petlife
Why Did Hollywood Stop Hiring Tall Handsome Actors
When baby-boomers were children, westerns dominated the three TV channels and the big screen. The men that starred in these shows were tall, usually dark, and handsome. They make Brad Pitt and George Clooney look average. This was before the feminist movement when men were men and women were women. The words girly-men and pussified hadn’t been coined yet.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Geeks
Why Women Stay in Abusive Marriages
In my senior year of high school, my English literature teacher liked to shoot the breeze and play Frank Sinatra records between teaching lessons. Like everyone else, I enjoyed his class, even though he made us read The Great Gatsby, one of the most boring books I’ve had the displeasure to read. One day, I don’t know how he got on the topic; he made the statement that any woman who “let” a man beat her up “enjoyed it.”
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Psyche
Has Political Correctness Reached Absurdity
Most of us grew up learning the correct language to use in various situations: It wasn’t nice to call someone stupid, use racial slurs, make fun of the disabled, use profanity, etc. Although not everyone practiced this code of politeness, most of us did. When we wanted to discuss various subjects, there existed a cache of euphemisms at our disposal. In recent years, a plethora of euphemisms popped up to avoid offending various groups. While some of these words are valid adjustments, others fall into the category of absurdity.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Humans
When We Used To Laugh At Ourselves
Yesterday, my friend Shirley and I got to talking about TV shows and movies that couldn’t be produced today because they aren’t PC. We began laughing so hard because of how sexist or racist they were. We weren’t laughing because they made fun of people; we were laughing because we couldn’t believe they were made in the first place. Baby Boomers will remember these shows, but younger generations won’t. I’ll try my best not to offend anyone, and it’s okay if you don’t find any of it funny. We’re all different.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Geeks
Trying Out Pot for the First Time at the Age of 71
I've never been a party girl. It’s something that never appealed to me. It’s not in my genes. I tried smoking cigarettes when I was 12 years old. I got sick to my stomach, puked, and wondered why anyone would want to smoke. I didn’t go to Woodstock or hang out with the hippies at Haight Ashbury in San Francisco. I failed hippie 101.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Confessions
When Life is too Painful to Continue
I live at the top of an eight-story apartment building. One night, my roommate and I heard a big bang outside but didn’t think too much about it. We live in Mazatlan, Mexico, and now that the snowbirds are coming back for the high season, there are firework displays on the beach almost every night.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Psyche
