Some Days

  September can officially go eff itself. My already pulpy, bruised heart was further pummeled with the loss of a dear friend last week. I’m thinking a lot about how I can be a better person in whatever time I have left. Fifty more years? Five more days? Who knows. Every day, I try to be more patient, more kind, more …

When Moms Get Mad

  I’m tired of mommy wars and don’t participate. However. Sometimes something gets you so hard in the gut that you need to punch your way out. Here’s my response to Phyllis Schafley’s equally conservative and hypocritical niece, who is trying to basically set women back 60 years, as she’s thumbing her nose at everyone who is not a very white, …

We Do Not Fail

When I used to work in offices, I had this inspirational quote hung over my desk. It reads, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” I’d look at it every now and then and think about my parallel universes a lot: The one in which I lived on a farm in Vermont and made pottery. The …

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Pen Is Mightier: Letters I Wrote This Week

1. To Grace’s karate teacher I’m Grace’s mom, and I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy watching her in your class and what a great job you do with the kids. It’s the perfect balance of silliness and discipline and I know she has a great time and she will carry those lessons forward. One thing I …

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In Praise of Sad Things

My friend Matthew sent me this Steven Wilson video, for no particular reason except that it’s lovely and we share music and amusing Internet Things (we both were bummed we didn’t think up the ship a box of glitter thing). The video is also really, really sad and haunting. I watched this on the heels of Inside Out, which I saw with …

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Why i will never tell my daughter to give you a hug

I did this piece for Jezebel that came out today. I hope friends and family understand that Grace is a really affectionate and loving kid, but it’s on her terms, OK? OK.

A Manifesto on Egg Freezing and Work-Life Balance

It’s hard to be mad at a benefit that promotes a reproductive choice for women, but the context is infuriating. Here’s my Jezebel manifesto, of sorts, of why it’s just not enough.