Deb Amlen's Blog

I had a rough day yesterday. I write a certain blog for a Very Large Newspaper, and while it wouldn’t be professional of me to go into details, I can boil down what happened for you in what we journalists like to call “fairly unbiased terms”: 1) A business decision was made at the newspaper […]

It’s been a while since I updated this blog, and just sitting down and writing for myself is something I’ve truly missed. I recently spent a very inspiring weekend with a group of writers at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, and it was like a hit of oxygen for me. It was also like a […]

Don’t you just hate it when you go down to the bank to make a withdrawal, get accused of stealing the bank manager’s “manhood”, and have to flee an angry lynch mob? I know I do, and I tend to avoid those situations like the plague, because they can put a serious crimp in your […]

Everyone talks about eating dinner together as the savior of the modern American family, but frankly I learn more about my children and their view of the world from playing games with them. Here are some of the things I have learned just from playing the games “Monopoly” and “Trouble” with them:   No game […]

We’re Jews, and not terribly good ones at that. Oh, I’m raising my kids to be good people who do unto others and all that, but I’m afraid we’re sorely lacking in the formal education department. This isn’t entirely my fault. My own parents fled from traumatic early religious training, and this tended to trickle down […]

I’ve come to the conclusion that high school age boys make up the majority of my fan base. I’m not sure how these young men (none of whom I actually know personally, Officer) got hold of my book, or why they were even interested in reading it in the first place. I had written this […]

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA I’m sorry. I’m still exhausted from my coverage of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Better jokes next time.

Have we learned nothing from history? (No.) These days the story is considered terribly non-P.C., but in grade school we learned all about how the innocent and nature-loving natives of the New World were talked into giving up their land and their homes on Manhattan Island in return for a handful of “wampum”, which even […]

On today's episode of "Inroads in Science: Still No Cure for Cancer", we bring you an article in Discover Magazine that says that clowns are apparently a leading cause of pregnancy.  I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, it would not surprise me to learn that Deb either made that up or, once again, has [...]

Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men. Unless you are the owner of a six-foot, plastic porch Santa singing Christmas songs on a loop.  Then, screw you.