Growing Bolder Community

Some time ago, I bought a balance ball, one of those things you sit on while doing a range of exercises. Last week I decided it was time I started using it, so armed with a book by Denise Austin, I anticipated great results. The book said to get used to the action of sitting on the ball and maintaining balance. Easier said than done. Okay. Sit on ball, arms folded over chest and...

I don't think you could put a price tag on how much fun I had with a second- or third-hand mink stole I took to this year's Viennese Ball in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I'm not a "real fur" person at all, but since this didn't sell at the estate sale for my late godmother's things, I ended up with it several months later. I thought it would spend the next couple of decades in the back of my OWN...

I can't say I've ever owned a "long" dress other than my wedding dress thirty years ago, and let's face it, you can only wear that one once. However, shopping was definitely in order when some friends folded me into their plans to attend the annual Viennese Ball at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire a few weeks ago. I didn't know quite what to expect, other than there would be a lot of...

One of my very best friends, journalist Liz Welter, and I made an impromptu dash to Chicago to check out the seventh annual Printers' Ball at the historic Ludington Building on July 29 to see what all the advance hoopla was about. I've been doing a lot of literary things in my home town in the past few years, such as reading essays and giving presentations, and this just floated across the radar...