Two of the best years of my life were spent at the Indiana Academy, which is a public residential high school for juniors and seniors (at Ball State University campus in Muncie, Indiana). I wrote a brief personal essay about … Continue reading
When I was young, I highly anticipated the holidays. It wasn’t about the gifts—it was because my five older siblings came home to visit, all at once! (I grew up as an only child, the only offspring of a second … Continue reading
From “A Cruel Country” [excerpts from Roland Barthes' journals after his mother's death] in The New Yorker (September 13, 2010): [Intro] Those who love Barthes are reminded, by his writing, of what true intimacy entails: supreme attunement alternating with bewildered … Continue reading
When my husband and I divorced, we went the DIY route. He ordered legal templates from a website, filled in the blanks, and sent it to the court. A date was set, and we agreed to meet at the courthouse … Continue reading
“People put so much effort into starting a relationship and so little effort into ending one.” —Marina Abramovic I was deeply touched by a story about Marina Abramovic in this issue of The New Yorker. She and her partner are … Continue reading
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. (Plato) During most of my school years, I lived the life of a teacher’s pet. While perhaps I was innately inclined to be a good student and follow directions, … Continue reading
My dad was an oddity in the small town I grew up in. He was New York, Jewish, and a calligrapher. The town was rural, Protestant, and coal mining. He loved to take walks around town. He had a long, … Continue reading
When reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed, this passage in particular stood out as something I had never before contemplated or realized: The person whom you choose to marry is perhaps the single most vivid representation of your personality. … There is … Continue reading
If my father were alive, he would’ve turned 90 years old this week. He was the youngest of six children, born of Russian Jewish immigrants—the only one to be born in the United States. He grew up on the streets … Continue reading