Brown paper packages bursting with food
I’m at a writers colony in Virginia, all the way across the country from where I live. I literally had to take planes, trains, and automobiles to get here. I knew it would be an odyssey, hot and awkward with my giant purse, computer bag, and 50-pound suitcase (exactly 50 pounds, weirdly enough and unplanned, […]
All Summer in a Day, 2012
The Hipstamatic app on my phone really does nothing to soothe my overdeveloped sense of pathos and tragedy. Neither does that beautiful, damnable song “We Are Young” by the appropriately named band, Fun. I’m going to a writers colony exactly one month from today, something I waited and worked hard to apply for. Several years […]
The facts of life
I sort of recall the day my mother tried to tell me about “the facts of life,” or the ones that pertained to the getting a period. She had sent away for the Modess kit of visual aids and granny maxi pads with an elastic belt that girls were supposed to wear under their gigantic […]
The well-loved book
My first work-study job in as a freshman in college was at the school library. I worked at the front desk checking out books. As work-study jobs go, I could have done a lot worse. It was 1987, and we still used a paper system to loan books. I’d ask for my fellow students’ ID, […]
Viva La Scene
This is a photo I snapped on a recent trip to New York. I was staying a few blocks away from the venerable Chelsea Hotel. At the time it seemed too cliché to photograph the Dylan Thomas plaque, but now I wish I had. Coincidentally, I was also reading Just Kids by Patti Smith, which […]
Fight Club of One
Last month I learned how to ski in Canada, at the same place where 12 years earlier I learned to snowboard. In those days, at 30, I suspected I was too old to learn how to do something like ski or snowboard. Still, I put on my helmet and hoped no one would guess my […]
(Not exactly) Paradise by the Dashboard Light
Though it’s cold and lonely in the deep dark night I can see paradise by the dashboard light – Meat Loaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light Those of you who read this blog have probably noticed that I try to keep it apolitical. Those of you who know me personally probably know that I’m […]
Tales of Marriage and Baggage
Last week I was lucky enough to tell a story at The Moth “Marriage” show in Santa Monica. I’m not someone who moved to Los Angeles to be an actor, although I love my actor and comedian friends and go to as many of their shows as I can. I don’t really want to be […]
To Live and Drive in LA
I read an article on “mindful eating” the other day in the New York Times. It’s about applying the principles of mindfulness and meditation, being in the moment while eating. I couldn’t figure out whether to laugh or cry, since I practice the exact opposite of mindful eating. This practice of mine is not […]
Flowers and candy
Here are the ghosts of Valentines Days past: 1. My first Valentines Day when I had a real boyfriend, circa 1987, Eau Claire, Wisconsin: Dreamy boy, great friend, fun. He presented me with a small box of candy and five wilted maroon roses he picked up at the grocery store (the last ones in stock) […]
