My list is in a vault. And when I say “vault”, I mean it’s in an unassuming post-it sized notebook inside a magnetic container on the side of my refrigerator. I recently thought about moving it somewhere or tearing it out of the notebook so that I can use this notebook for other things like groceries or errands. But something about it feels magical. So it needs to stay. Exactly. Right. There. The list is THE LIST- the comprehensive must-have qualities for my partner. It seems simple but it’s the product of decades of crushes, relationships, successes and failures. When I hear singles talking about how they can’t find anyone…

Light banter at work today brings up a word I’ve never heard before,  “neg.” A female coworker explains, “It’s when a guy says something kind of mean to a girl, but really subtle.” I’m still puzzled. A male coworker chimes in, “Oh yeah, that worked all the time for me in college. I would ask girls, “Do men actually find you attractive?” I gasp. The female coworker supplements with, “Yeah, or he might say something like, ‘Oh, my mom has that same sweater'”. I get it now. But just to confirm, I consult the urban dictionary to find the following: Neg A light insult wrapped in the package of a…

I sit across the table from my interviewer. I really want this job. It is five minutes from my house and seems to have a lot of opportunities, though vague: 1. The company has a seriously cool photo studio. Maybe I will learn how to direct a photo shoot. 2. The new role would be to work with Fortune 100 companies on their marketing campaigns. Maybe my work will get national exposure. 3. There are awesomely creative people here. Maybe I will get to brainstorm and have Mad Men moments where I write taglines that launch household names. But that’s not the job I’m interviewing for. The title is account…

A couple years ago, I put my book into a cryogenic freeze. See, finishing it became a problem- one I couldn’t solve. So I began to solve others, like my stage fright. Since May 2012, I’ve been getting on stage and performing short stories. And in April 2013, my partner in crime, Jill, and I started a live lit show called Story Sessions. I’ve recently landed a new job, one that fits me perfectly. It’s all coming together. Except for one now frostbitten memoir. So I’m thawing it out and have committed to finishing it this year, with the help of Story Studio. And in the meantime, to keep the…

I lie next to him on a rug at the end of the night. I have to go home and to bed soon. He says, “We should sleep together. I mean, sleep.” And he’s right, we have quickly become close and so comfortable with each other and the thought of staying and not having to drive home is appealing. But I can’t. I’m not ready to have a relationship with sleepovers. But also, I have a problem with sleep. It’s something with which I’ve been recently coming to terms. For the past two weeks, I haven’t slept in my own bed. I’ve been traveling and sleeping in a myriad of…

My niece just turned 13. What does that mean? Her bat mitzvah is tomorrow morning. She’ll have her first event entirely devoted to her, with hair and make up. It has the same flavor as the wedding she’ll have some day. Her mom told me, “she’s old enough for Facebook”. And this is when the objections started, in the same tone I had when I told her she could absolutely not wear pants with writing on the butt. “Are you sure? I think it’s 16”, I texted her as I began searching Google for the answer. 13. But she’s not ready. I’M NOT READY. I was scared for all the…

The Next Big Thing Project is a creative game of tag with the goal of prompting writers to share their current/future writing project. Eileen Dougharty just passed the torch to me so that I can share my BIG idea with you. 1. What is the working title of your book? Forever Maybe. The story behind the title can be found here. 2. Where did the idea come from for the book? In the year after my divorce, I began meeting an array of men and realized that meeting a large quantity of them would be the key to me figuring out what I was seeking. This began “Project 50”, where…