On Pregnancy Angst

The Semi-Ultimate Fear.

Pregnancy angst comes in all shapes and sizes, or so the rumor has it. As friends and colleagues dive towards their (mid)-thirties in a familiar state of falling in love, moving away, settling down, and/or starting a family, I am baffled by how easy facebook makes the pregnancy part appear.  The babies are popping out week after week as glam shots of parents are quickly uploaded for the whole internet world to see, and all the anxiety-provoking details saved for the real-life version offline...most of the time, as is often the case.  Enjoy! 

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Real Love Stories

Way Back When.

One of my favorite parts about getting married is hearing the love stories of our parents and grandparents.  Gone are (some of) the minute details of how they actually met but the romance is enduring, and the marriages have all lasted through sickness and health.  Many lessons to be learned and role models to remembered as weddings stack our summer schedules and lifelong promises are sworn before familiar faces.  Enjoy!

 [Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On the Next Few Days

Between all-day trainings and family visits, this blog will resume on Tuesday, July 30th!

On No Sure Thing

Anything Can Happen.

We want control, to know what's next, to be ready, prepared, tools in hand for the next big disappointment, loss, bad break, disaster.  And yet we can't always know or be five steps ahead of the curve balls we never saw coming the one day we left our glove at home, to protect from the blow we almost always bounce back from.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On the Kindess of Strangers

Lending a Hand.

I can't recall a time I was specifically reliant on the Kindness of Strangers but there was that one incident in 1990 when I got lost in Madison Square Garden at the frightened age of ten, was approached by a police officer who promised not to announce my name on the loud speaker (for fear my fifth grade teacher would get mad) and then proceeded to walk me around the stadium until I found my classmates.  And yet I have optimistic faith that should the opportunity arise, the sea of unfamiliar faces would (hopefully) jump in, save the day, and get back to their lives as if it ain't no thang.  Enjoy!

 [Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Writing Creatively

Follow the Author.

Write about a toy or game you play with, revealing something important about your experience. Write about your neighborhood. Write about a time when you were lost. Capture a memory through the sense of taste. Write about the stories you were told, a family journey, an act of generosity. Write about when you ceased to be a child.

(Write and Enjoy.)

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Old Photographs

Familiar Faces.

Looking through old photographs, I imagine the words and thoughts and nuances of the youthful faces I've only known in old age.  The lives of our grandparents before they were parents, before they were role models to our role models, responsible for multiple generations of family.  I imagine them flirt, laugh, cry, existing solely for themselves and each other, making sense of the world and the war,  and who they hope to be one day. Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Two Decades Early

Nineteen Ninety Three.

Brandon Lee died on the set of The Crow and River Phoenix of a drug overdose at the Viper in West Hollywood. Power Rangers action fictions and Beanie Babies were released. 60 Minutes, Murphy Brown, and Home Improvement were three of the most popular shows on television. And I Will Always Love You and Weak (SWV) were number one hits on the Billboard, followed by Hero (Mariah) and Again (Janet), both of which I slowed danced to at my eight grade prom.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On the Facebook Force

The Ultimate Love-Hate Relationship.

With our whole wide worlds (past, present, and future) watching our every moves on a daily basis - including long lost best friends, ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, former french teachers and calculus classmates,  that kid you cut class with, first kisses and unrequited romances - it's hard not to postpostpost our latest accomplishments, attractive (side angle, hipstomatic, not-exactly-what-we-look-like) profile pics, baby's first words/steps/spaghettios, recent promotions, and overseas vacations, as if they are actually hanging on our every word and invested in what happened five minutes ago, and five minutes before that.  Facebook made us do it, the pressure to be watched, liked, and envied when, in fact, the clock at work just won't strike five soon enough and we need a distraction that's ever-so-slightly more engaging than Microsoft Word.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On 90% of Marriage

Advice From My Father.

My father once told me that the first ten years of marriage are 90% work and 10% play, and yet as the details of my own wedding festivities fall into place with less than seven weeks ago to (of which planning such an event seems to follow a similar ratio), my shared anticipation of the next several decades lies somewhere amidst a more balanced scale between adventure and tribulation at a fifty-fifty breakdown.  But as things in life usually go, making decisions on who, what, where, when, and why will likely follow unanticipated outcomes, during which curve balls are thrown, dodged, and occasionally caught, and eventually worked out the way they're supposed to. Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On the Language of Art

Different Strokes.

Art speaks to people in different ways.  For some, connections are made through the intimacies of the shadows and contours of the subjects' parts.  For others, through the smoothness of the movements, as bodies gracefully contort into narratives and affirmations.  For musicians, it's a combination of elements and texture that fill and build upon the silences of the unspoken vibrations and dialogue. And for people like me, it's the written word itself, as it effortlessly weaves to create characters and stories interpreted and displayed through the lens of the imagination itself. Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Aging Gracefully

Staying Fit.

I want to be the eighty-year-old who travels to far-away places, tosses grandchildren into swimming pools, and wakes up to freshly brewed coffee and quick runs (or brisk walks) around the neighborhood park with my Italian Greyhound and equally vibrant husband.  Living in Colorado, I'm more committed to maintaining and sustaining good health than ever before. I dabble with short races, attempted boot camp (two weeks ago), and constantly seek exercise companions for fear that my own motivation won't keep me going.  Partly inspired by a desire to age gracefully (don't we all?), my underlying, much more demanding incentive is my ever-persistent fear of missing the rest of my life, of making choices I'll regret, and of saying goodbye to people, places, and things I'm not ready to leave if only I'd tried a little bit harder.  Enjoy! 
 
[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On What You Think Of Me

(Say What?)

You can't see me care what you think, hiding behind my shades of anonymity, amongst a crowd of strangers who always care regardless of what we say aloud.  We pretend we don't, divert eye contact, scoff at unkind words, but secretly question and doubt and wonder who we are in other people's eyes, minds, and intentions. Enjoy!  

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Skype Dates

"Hangin' Out."

When I moved to Denver, I committed myself to virtual happy hours and coffee dates with my nearest and dearest back in NYC to make the distance and time feel less consequential than the reality of the actual loss.  It's true, you can't replace the companionship of real live hang out sessions but you can soften the blows by logging into skype every once in a while and saying what's up and also I hate the phone.  And so virtual girl-time is occasionally scheduled (amidst email exchanges and the rare but welcomed snail mail extravaganza), dialed in, and  good enough for now until paths are crossed again...in person. (Skype, anyone?)  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Practicing Piano

Minuet in G Minor.

I specifically chose piano teachers who wouldn't force me to play in public.  I hated practicing but I did it anyway, since personal gratification and pleasing my parents seemed the only real reward for stumbling through Mozart.  And when friends and family adamantly insisted I show off the one song I had actually memorized from start to finish ("Memories" from Cats), my fingers trembled and tripped over themselves as I felt multiple sets of eyes scrutinizing my skinny fingers.  Years later, I can still play that song with my eyes closed, but only for a one-person audience (-myself).  Enjoy! 

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On My (Little) Brother

Not So Little Anymore.

We went hiking last summer (see photo on the right) and I was my usual overprotective self (I blame my mother) of my not-so-little brother (he's twice my size) who flew out to Colorado for his very first backpacking trip (in the Rocky Mountains).  In spite of his size, age, and wisdom (he is one of the wisest people I know), it's hard to let go of the roots from which we came -- decades of teaching and growing and sharing our childhood together, lessons learned exclusive only to siblings, battles won and lost...and won again, and a partnership that will remain until the bitter end.  Enjoy!  

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Standing in Line

Seeking Patience.

Rather than fight the frustration and need to be next, we should embrace the welcomed moment of rest, clarity, and solitude amidst a sea of (most likely) strangers and find enjoyment and relaxation from standing in line.  Often time, however, we join our comrades in exasperated, synchronized sighs, fidget with our belongings, and pull out the ol' cell phone for some texting/angrybirds/checkin'email because, god forbid, we should find the stamina to be still, observe, think, and just be.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On (Another) Day Off

Happy July 4th! This blog will resume tomorrow, July 5th, 2013.

On (Like) Newlyweds

(Re)newed Excitement,

We meet, flirt, share anecdotes of our lives from before, and proceed to develop the basis for romantic confidant and eternal (best) friend.  As our relationship morphs, returning to our initial roots - when exchanges were over-analyzed and actions carefully calculated - is a necessary and welcomed reminder of how we ended up in the after.  And so we wine and dine, hold hands and giggle, marveling over the transformation we've made (are always making) from complete strangers to necessary companions.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On the Instagram Persona

Pretty Lives.

After perusing a recent blog post entitled, "Rich Kids of Instagram" last week, I felt more envious than a third grader witnessing her elementary school best friend receive Barbie's Dream House from Santa in the mid to late 80s. By no default of my own (I blame my persistent iphone dysfunction), I've yet to directly dabble with Instagram beyond blog posts and news articles referencing (literally) falsely-colored picture albums and overly-edited objects of affections, and in that moment I was temporarily relieved.  Not knowing what to do with my ill-harbored feelings (mansions! shoes! private jets!), I reminded myself that Instragram (and facebook) (and twitter) (and all the other ways in which we [all] show off our lives) is always greener, that social media is only the perspective we so carefully control, and that the truth that lies beneath is much deeper, "richer," more realistic, and way less glamorous.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Hating Blogs

Computer Envy.

We read, we gawk, we envy, and we detest the narratives of other people's blog posts (ahem), during which grass is always greener, and intimate details are presented through rose-colored computer screens.  The truth behind the words and images, behind the stories shared and altered, behind the online persona that inevitably varies from the actual personality typing and publishing semi-personal details for all the world to see, brings each of us back for more and more ... to relate, to learn, to understand, and to wonder what life is like in other people's lives as we stumble upon the same and different moments on a daily basis.  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]