SUBSCRIBE for email notifications

X
Author

Janet Givens

  • amazon author page
  • facebook
  • goodreads
  • gplus
  • instagram
  • linkedin
  • twitter
Skip to content
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • BOOKS
    • At Home on the Kazakh Steppe
    • Events
  • LEARN MORE
  • CONTACT

Posts Categorized: Friendship

I’m Prejudiced. Are You?

posted on July 6, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for I’m Prejudiced. Are You? - Image Source at https://i2.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fa76906e87d51bc61e618817a4fbe4a9.jpg?fit=233%2C300&ssl=1
  Let’s start here, with  a 20-question quiz  from understandingprejudice.org to test your understanding of prejudice and discrimination.  Just to give you an idea, here’s Question 21 (optional): Imagine you’re having a private, late-night conversation with a new acquaintance about why there are so many Black professional athletes. The person you are talking to, who happens to be a… more »
11 view comments

“I am the greatest!”

posted on June 29, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for “I am the greatest!” - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Muhammed-Ali-quotes.png?fit=300%2C233&ssl=1
      He was like no one else we had ever known. Brash, beautiful, full of optimism, and, we thought at the time, full of himself. Go on; admit it.  When Cassius Clay first appeared on the public stage with his proud, “I am the greatest” proclamation, didn’t you roll your eyes? Didn’t you… more »
18 view comments

When Death Arrives

posted on June 22, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for When Death Arrives - Image Source at https://i1.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/How-lucky-I-am.jpeg?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1
    It was only a week ago. Last Tuesday, my last night in Ohio, I was sitting around the table after dinner, chatting with my daughter-in-law, Jenna. She’s been a nurse practitioner in family practice for a few years and had lost two of her patients recently. She hadn’t seen it coming; their medical concerns were under… more »
28 view comments

What is an Apology?

posted on June 1, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for What is an Apology? - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/BenFranklin.jpg?fit=300%2C121&ssl=1
    Apologies have been in the news lately. President Obama’s recent trip to Hiroshima has been met with criticism from some Americans, reviving the “apology tour” reference. BACKGROUND INFO:  during Mitt Romney’s RNC acceptance speech (in 2012), he referred to Obama’s “apology tour” through Europe, contrasting it with the “job tour” that he was proposing.  Good as… more »
10 view comments

My 50th High School Reunion, Part II: Memories

posted on May 18, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for My 50th High School Reunion, Part II: Memories - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_2126.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1
    Where to start!   I went into my reunion weekend with three distinct expectations, as I listed in last week’s post. They all, to one extent or another, came true.  And, so much more.   One theme that kept coming up for me during my reunion weekend was history. Shared history. As an only child, it’s never… more »
10 view comments

My 50th High School Reunion, Part I: Expectations

posted on May 11, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for My 50th High School Reunion, Part I: Expectations - Image Source at https://i0.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/images-58.jpeg?fit=225%2C224&ssl=1
  This weekend, Woody and I will be heading south for my 50th high school reunion.     I am a proud graduate of East Orange High School (New Jersey), which  also claims Bette Davis, Dionne Warwick, and (I just learned, researching this post) Janis Ian.  I also learned Janis Ian is three years younger… more »
13 view comments

Gathering Strangers to My Home: A Cultural Perspective

posted on March 30, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for Gathering Strangers to My Home: A Cultural Perspective - Image Source at https://i2.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20160320_180830.jpg?fit=300%2C247&ssl=1
Have you ever asked a stranger to tea?   Ever spent the night with someone you’d only just met?  (Wait, that came out wrong.)   How about deciding to gather together folks you’d (mostly) never met for a week. Six nights!   Why would you do such a thing?   Why did I?   That… more »
23 view comments

Nowruz in Kazakhstan

posted on March 22, 2016 by Janet Givens
Featured image for Nowruz in Kazakhstan - Image Source at https://i1.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20130321145307.jpg?fit=300%2C183&ssl=1
In recognition of the new attack, this time in Brussels, I’m posting this week’s blog a day early.  May we all remember that in the world, many will usher in their new year today in peace.  … Nowruz is a happy holiday, celebrated for over 3,000 years by billions of people.     And before I went to… more »
9 view comments

Annual Christmas Eve Story

posted on December 23, 2015 by Janet Givens
Featured image for Annual Christmas Eve Story - Image Source at https://i1.wp.com/janetgivens.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/images-7.jpeg?fit=183%2C275&ssl=1
  How the year has flown.  The following story is one I’ve shared before, first in 2013 and again in 2014.   It is a story that teaches us that peace can be found if individual men and women want it badly enough to set their differences aside and find what it is that unites them as human… more »
4 view comments
Older posts
Newer posts
  • Search

  • Categories

    Age Blogging Conservation Crossing borders Cultural differences Deleted Scene Education Family Friendship Holidays Kazakhstan Life Lessons MidLife Change Peace Peace Corps Politics Recipes Social Media Therapy Travel
  • Subscribe

    Subscribe to my blog.

    SUBSCRIBE

  • At Home on the Kazakh Steppe:A Peace Corps Memoir

    Praise from Kirkus Review
    “...she writes engagingly ... a sharp-eyed journalist. A worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in humanitarian work.”

    At Home on the Kazakh Steppe, A Peace Corps Memoir, by Janet Givens Buy the book

  • Facebook

    Facebook
  • Top Posts & Pages

    • A Two For Tuesday Prompt #3
    • Meet Lindsay de Feliz
    • The Four Stages of Friendship
    • When Cultural Difference Is Used As An Excuse
    • A Two for Tuesday Tag Prompt #1
  • Post Archives

  • Facebook Group

    Join me on Facebook atWe Love Memoirs
  • Gutsy Anthology

    I’ve got a chapter in Sonia’s second anthology. Check it out here.

  • ©2012-2019 Janet Givens - All Rights Reserved made with by Memphis McKay
    ^
    up