At first I thought this was April Fool's day, but it wasn't. Apparently the hot young things are now dying their hair.

Gray. 

We're cool now.

Gray highlights are catching on with the young smart set.  Greylights! Love it. Kate Moss: ring me up and let's hang.

My Ipod is on the fritz--the sound only comes out of one earphone, which for some reason severely hampers my ability to keep moving on the machines at the gym. The problem is the jack, of course, which I discovered after buying a new pair of earphones.

I was going to get it repaired, but you know the drill. For just a few bucks more than the repair cost, I could get... a  new one. 

One of the growing groups of caregivers these days is grandparents who are caring for their grandchildren; over at the Mothering Mother and More blog, writer Carol O'Dell discusses another cross-generational group: grandchildren caring for grandparents.

It's safe to say that only in a town like Marblehead, Massachusetts (that's Brown's Island above), could you end up going to school with a girl named Abigail Martha Haddock. But there you go.

Though Martha grew up on the Atlantic, she now lives in the  Pacific Northwest, where, as the Frugal Fraulein, she works, teaches, and blogs about all things frugal, and writes for Associated Content.

Over at Commonweeder, writer Pat Leuchtman muses about the collection of tableware, glasses and tablecloths that have graced her kitchen table over the years. It's a lovely read.

And, having been lucky enough to enjoy many meals and good conversation at her table over the years, I can also say it's about hospitality and friendship.

by BJ Roche

The acceptance letters have gone out, and parents are coming through our doors at UMass these days, checking out the facilities, trying to determine the right fit for their kids. I've been talking to a lot of parents, as well as to graduating seniors about to begin their careers. Both groups have great expectations, and my experience with the seniors is informing what I'm telling the parents. Which is this:

By BJ Roche

How long has it been since you decided to step out of your well-worn path and decided to do something totally new--some kind of activity in which you were willing to risk being a beginner again? Piano lessons? Tennis? Career change?

I'm finding myself with a ton of new, interesting, and well-paying work these days, in part because I took a shot and tried something new. Even though I didn't know a single thing about it.

It's hard to believe that someone could write about the trend of middle-aged women's infatuation with rearing chickens without at least a smidgen of humor, but Peggy Orenstein managed to do so in Sunday's New York Times magazine. Peggy. Lighten up. You're thinkin' too much.

I love my students because they keep me kept up. A hat tip to Justin Gagnon, who passed along this very funny blog post from andiamnotlying.com about a list found on the floor of a third grade charter school classroom in Washington DC that details the 90 kinds of bitches. 

Want to learn more about writing as a career?

Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Mass will hold its first Writers Day on April 17.