I don’t remember ever setting off fireworks. As a child, we’d get little sticks that fizzled for a few minutes. Sparklers that were difficult for even children to use to set themselves on fire. My dad would drive us to a spot in the city to watch the fireworks from…

Behind the scenes at an art festival. A stadium concert. Skinny-dipping. A yoga class. Really good sex. Speaking for 200+ people. I’ve had a lot of firsts (and a few coming up) in an astonishingly short amount of time recently. A little less than halfway through this mother of a…

When I was younger, my siblings and I would complain about our chores, parents, people who annoyed us, school, and everything else that dared disappoint us by being human or hard. Call it venting, shooting the breeze, blowing off steam: it boiled down to not getting our way and complaining…

The friend who’d invited me had disappeared. Probably in search of more weed. Whiffs of smoke blew in with the cold wind every time the door opened. It hit my back and made me shiver in unpredictable patterns. A guy with a guitar (because there’s always a guy with a…

(That’s not a bad thing.) — At any given time, I’m worried 3–5 people are upset with me. Sometimes, it’s an acquaintance, and I worry I’ve said something offhand that burrowed under their skin and made their eye twitch. Occasionally, it’s a colleague or client I think I’ve forgotten to complete a desperately needed task for…

Hey friends, it’s your girl. I keep it pretty Cassandra over here, but I gotta tell you. I’ve definitely considered packing up shop these past three months. A quick recap. Laid off for the first time on September 2 (Official Reason: Budget) Start new temp-to-perm job on September 12 Plan…

“These were all just cuddle-motivated…….we’ve all been that guy.” The conversation continued. The smell of eggs & bacon cooking and coffee brewing lingered in the kitchen. My jaw scraped the floor. Who was this cuddlebug the podcast hosts were discussing? Jeffrey Dahmer. The day prior, I’d flinched as a documentary…

Writing lists of things I don’t like/hate is easy for me. Maybe because I have clinical depression. Or because “fun” has been easily twisted as evil in the name of God in my life. Maybe I’m just naturally grumpy. I don’t know. If you are preoccupied with positivity or always…

Let’s talk about pitching, friends. As a salve for election day nerves, I’m writing two pieces about the most basic things. (Literally. The other piece is just 30-something basic bitch things that bring me joy.) This one, though, is about a fairly standard annoyance. A mundane pet-peeve, if you will. …