A day or two after my last blog post, I logged onto my free WordPress blog, as I had done for more than two years, only to find my precious blog inaccessible. Understandably, I panicked. “Your site has been suspended due to violation of terms of service.” I read with a quickly shortening field of vision. What? What in the world could I violate? My last blog post was gossip about my coworker! I sent off an email in desperation and combed through my inbox. I had received no warning, no explanation of why WordPress.com had suddenly and silently removed my website from its platform. A few hours later I…

Helen told me that she made some new friends at the gym. “There is another woman, she’s much younger than me, who comes in at the same time. She came up to me this week to chat! We exchanged numbers and we’re going to get coffee this week! Another woman also struck up a conversation by the elliptical. I must be popular.” She concluded, unironically. So who’s going to tell her? But she didn’t end the conversation with her unintended dating life. She then turned to me and said suddenly, “Why don’t you invite me anywhere? I’m always inviting you.” I was stunned. I decided to keep my reaction as…