I don’t like complaining and negativity, but sometimes it feels good to vent about low-stakes situations and details that don’t matter. So, I’m starting the new year with a list […]
Author Archives: Nancy E. Anderson
Nancy E. Anderson is a writer, communications consultant and swim coach. She has lived in Evanston since 1992.
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Nancy E. Anderson: Shh … it’s a fake
Don’t tell anyone, but for the first time in my life, I’m putting up an artificial Christmas tree. I’m still sorting through my feelings about this radical act. They include […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: Juking, the Jewel and other thoughts on local language
Ever since The New York Times published a quiz that pinpoints a person’s American regional dialect, I’ve thought more about the words I use and the way I pronounce things. My answers […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: Can a cat person be a dog person?
As I type, a striped furry tail is rhythmically brushing my laptop’s keyboard and intermittently blocking the screen. My cat, Walter, is lying across my desk lengthwise, intruding into my […]
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Nancy Anderson: I’m past my prime and that’s OK
In his book From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, Arthur C. Brooks writes that people decline professionally between their late […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: What to make of all the lawn signs
I don’t remember lawn signs from my childhood. There were bumper stickers and pin-back buttons, like the WIN buttons in the 1970s. (WIN stood for “Whip Inflation Now.”) But I […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: Am I naïve (or crazy) to still have hope?
In 2020, I wrote an essay titled “Why I fly an American flag.” Although I referenced the flag, it was mostly a tangible way to talk about my dad, who […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: What makes a marriage work? I’m still not sure
After my first marriage fell apart in the 1990s, I spent months – no, years – pondering relationships, particularly marriage. I wanted to understand what had happened to mine and […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: Life’s transitions and our big, black car
“Why do I feel sad?” I said to my husband a few days ago as we walked in the front door of our house. We had just driven our black […]
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Nancy E. Anderson: Let’s talk about church. Or not.
“I go to church. That feels like a weird thing to admit.” This was a woman’s thought bubble in a cartoon in The New Yorker not long ago. Wow, I […]