Every freelancer knows that working at a coffee shop comes with distractions. Cell-phone yappers and crying babies come with the territory. Penises, though—well, that was a new one. I was checking my email and enjoying a morning latte at a café near my home in Philadelphia when I was interrupted: “Excuse me, would you like […]
When you think about it, all the decadence and pleasure wrapped up in Christmas make it a rather sexy holiday. So many yuletide activities—eating chocolates, spending time in front of a roaring fire in your pajamas, gift-giving—naturally lead to romantic moments. At least they do in holiday movies like “When Harry Met Sally,” “Love, Actually” […]
I was born out of wedlock in Minnesota, to a white mother and an Afghan (not the blanket, the country) father. It was considered pretty scandalous for my mom to be a single mother with a brown baby back in 1979 in Minnesota. My mother had been with my father off and on for nearly seven years before I […]
My favorite thing about traveling is that it always changes me. Whether I’m taking a road trip to a neighboring state or exploring Europe for a month, I never come back home the same person I was when I left. Traveling changes your perspective, it changes the way you see yourself, and it changes the […]
It was a Tuesday afternoon and I was on my therapist’s couch. I described for her an incident over the weekend when I felt sad, deeply sad, for seemingly no reason at all. I had felt reclusive and shy and wanted to stay in my bed; when my husband encouraged me to go to a birthday […]
A few weeks ago, I was flying home from a blissful vacation, trying to ignore a screaming baby a few rows ahead of me and cringing at the cacophony of phlegm-y coughs coming from the seat behind me, when I realized that every flight is exactly the same. Looking around me, it was as though […]
Last semester I worked at Walt Disney World and encountered thousands of “guests” (as they are known in Disney-speak) a day. They came to Walt Disney World from all over the actual world, although they tended to be predominantly from the Western Hemisphere North America, Europe, or Brazil, and were all ages, races, and attitudes. Even […]
Few weeks ago, I wrote an essay about how I witnessed a man committing domestic violence against a woman outside my apartment. I received many incredible emails from readers, including one from a prosecutor who has previously had a DV caseload. She advised me to contact my local precinct and give a statement about what […]
In celebration of last months’ International Day of the Girl Child, our mission is to feature women from around the globe who’s making a difference for the international community. Japan may be known as a country with delicious cuisines and anime, but this time we wanted to dive into the local level to find businesses […]
