Brushing my teeth a few minutes ago could’ve been annoying because there wasn’t much toothpaste left in the tube. Instead, I enjoyed dealing with the situation by taking out my…tube wringer. And, YouTube. I need to get better at this video stuff because it’s such a great way to communicate. Making videos is also fun. [...]
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At last, my daughter Gabi and I are at JFK, waiting to board our 9:55 p.m. flight to Paris. The entire day was a mad blur of finishing stories for work, squashing everything into my carry-on luggage, straightening up the house and getting the animals ready for the pet sitter (needed to organize their food [...]
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Ever since I took on Amy Chua last year with a blog post that went viral, the children of tiger parents have been emailing me for advice. I’m going to share one of these emails today because it touches on such universal issues about the damage caused by parental tough love. The readers who reach [...]
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My new reporting job has me in the ‘burbs of Westchester County 24-7. I miss Manhattan! So I’m making a point to get down there and explore the city through its food. Taking a bite of the Big Apple has been an education in just how much dining in New York has evolved. Here are [...]
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I can’t wait for someone to ask me about my weekend. Single, middle-aged me finally has a truly interesting answer: “My weekend? Oh, it was great. I spent it drawing assassin porn.” The continuing quest to find myself has taken me to a series of weekend cartooning workshops. We divide our time between learning about [...]
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Today is the second anniversary of Mom’s death. Even though she was an impossible diva for most of her 92 years, she came around in the end. During her very last days, she was even remarkably loving. And because she changed, I truly miss her. I will always be glad that Mom died while holding [...]
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I‘ve always viewed the dragon as one of the coolest symbols of Chinese culture. Then, I learned the unpleasant reality of his relationship to his mate, the glorious, wildly feathered phoenix. Of course, we have every reason to adore the dragon. As the first animal in the 12-creature Chinese zodiac, he represents the ideal time [...]
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Wow, reorganizing the crap in my house got done just in time. This is my first week on the new job and honey, work has been insane! But I am holding it together because at the end of every day, I am collapsing in a home that has a sense of order. Now the question [...]
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Yay! I actually stuck it out for National Novel Writing Month! What a thrill to say that my November was spent churning out 60,000 words of utter dreck. But a book has to start somewhere, right? :) For those of you new to what is affectionately called NaNoWriMo, the goal is to challenge writers to produce [...]
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We’re up to Day 3 of National Novel Writing Month. I’m on it! Now that I’m actually writing 2,000 words of blah-blah a day, I understand why I resisted this project for so long… It’s hard to spend quality time thinking about my mother. Reliving old memories makes me really miss her. Of course, I [...]
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In a continuing effort to escape Mom and Dad’s well-intentioned-but-misguided parenting, I am finally pursuing my heart of hearts. After decades of not daring to trust myself, I will say it now: I think I was born to be an abstract painter. With my no-nonsense, business-minded parents deceased, we are all in emotionally safe spaces. [...]
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November is National Novel Writing Month. And the celebration of this event is very specific: You must sit down and complete a 50,000-word fiction manuscript by Nov. 30. The idea is so insane that I definitely want to do it! For the past few Novembers, I’ve sat longingly on the sidelines. There was always a [...]
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Tell me the truth — do I really have to spend the rest of my life wrestling with ethnic identity issues? Can’t I just be me? What the hell does any of this mean anyway? More than half a century of personal soul searching has not brought much resolution: Decade #1 (Ages 0-10): Hated being [...]
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I had a really good therapy session the other day. Towards the end of my blah-blah-blah, there was a lovely moment of peaceful clarity. One of the things I understand now is that I have spent most of my life feeling controlled. I also understand that what I want is to let go of my [...]
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I just turned 55. And I am scared. The feeling reminds me of quarter-life angst except worse. After all, a half-life crisis involves twice as much emotional baggage. But thankfully, there’s also the potential for twice as much wisdom — which I discovered during a birthday morning visit with the shrink. My regular Monday session [...]
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