Dear Navel Diary, Are You Listening?

Having addressed the initial shock and disbelief at the demise of the perfect in-ey navel, ruined by the racking cough of pneumonia, in The Navel Diaries: How I Lost My Belly Button and Found Myself, the author continues her journey into competent maturity in Dear Navel Diary, Are You Listening?. This collection of essays ranges from humorous to poignant as the author investigates the process of becoming older, evaluating the experience in real time, drawing on the past and charting a path toward the future.

Having addressed the initial shock and disbelief at the demise of the perfect in-ey navel, ruined by the racking cough of pneumonia, in The Navel Diaries: How I Lost My Belly Button and Found Myself, the author continues her journey into competent maturity in the second book in the series. The collection of essays in Dear Navel Diary, Are You Listening? ranges from a humorous take on becoming set in one's ways to a poignant apology for thoughtless past behaviors. The author takes the reader along on a disastrous childhood family fishing trip, offers suggestions for procuring perfect foundation garments without having a melt-down in the fitting room, extols the virtues of knitting and recounts the thrill of fast cars. There are musings about what to do with everything that has accumulated in the attic and the basement and the remnants of all that rock 'n' roll that are still playing. The author shares her surprise at learning that elderly is a bona fide medical age-related diagnosis, and many will understand, and even share, her indignation at being called an adorable little old lady to her face. Along the way, the essays question the social constructs of aging as the author defies the stereotypes, challenges the beauty culture and redefines what it means to be a member of both the Pepsi™ Generation and the Sandwich Generation.

Diann Logan is the author of The Navel Diaries: How I Lost My Belly Button and Found Myself (TerraCotta Publishing 2015), her humorous and poignant observations about getting older. Dear Navel Diary, Are You Listening? (TerraCotta Publishing 2018) continues her exploration of life's surprises. She blogs at diannloganauthor.com. She is also the author of Designs in Patchwork (Oxmoor House, 1987) and her designs and patterns have appeared in numerous other publications ranging from Ms. Magazine to Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. She spends time in her sewing room completing the collection of the dozens of quilts she made with her father during his last years. A gallery of her quilts is at diannloganquilts.com. She is on faculty with University of Colorado Denver, belongs to Colorado Authors League and is a cast member of Listen To Your Mother Boulder 2016 and Listen To Your Mother Boulder 2018. She lives with her husband and their spoiled spaniel in Arvada Colorado. The Navel Diaries is her second diary. The first one is safely locked in its little cedar box with the names of old boyfriends carved on the lid. The key was lost long ago, but she can still pick the lock with a bobby pin.