I have a couple of girl friends whom I really envy. They know exactly what they want — or rather, what they don’t want. They don’t want to have children. Two of my girl friends are childless by choice, which means that while they enjoy being involved in the lives other people’s children, they have […]
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 […]
I love weddings. I stop dead before store windows to gaze at gorgeous dresses and drool over diamond rings. I’m thrilled when I happen upon a noisy banquet in a Chinese restaurant. I read the New York Times wedding announcements every Sunday. I love watching “Say Yes to the Dress.” But I don’t want to […]
Emotional affairs are when a person in a committed relationship looks to establish an emotional bond with someone outside of his or her relationship. I know this because I Googled it. I felt that there had to be a description for what I was going through, feeling an incredible closeness with an unavailable man. I […]
There will be some point in your career as a 20-something when someone will break your heart, and bad. By bad I mean, you may think you’re having a nervous breakdown and will have the desire to be hospitalized. In some cases, this actually may happen. Here’s how to deal: Suck it up: When I […]
Most people have encountered a crazy ex-girlfriend in some form, a being to be pitied and scorned. It was frightening how easy it was to find myself, normally a level-headed, rational woman, turning into one. J and I tried to be on friendly terms a few different times, but I couldn’t let go. So gradually […]
I suppose in some ways I was destined to become a control freak. I was born into a proud dynasty of control freaks. My family is Italian, and growing up it was made very clear to me that a woman’s job is to keep everyone–especially the men–in line. Not only was I the oldest child, […]
“What time do you go to bed?” the acupuncturist asked while monitoring my pulse. “Like, midnight?” I said. “And what time do you wake up?” she asked, examining my tongue. “Um, 6:30,” I said, proudly. I’ve always thought of excessive sleeping as a sign of weakness. Just for myself, not for others. It’s too closely […]
Well, of course, someone had to take some photos of me at a party, wearing my favorite dress (should I just stop wearing the clothes I love to events where there might photos taken?), bulky, lopsided, unfortunately proportioned, and my pregnant beauty bubble, so to awkwardly speak, was popped. Shit. No matter how many times […]
