Love

The process used to be so straight forward. First High School : Admit you like him/her (but not to the actual person) IM (from the time you finish dinner ‘til the time you go to bed) Round a base, or two (pre car: in basement parties when the strobe light goes on, post car: in the car) “We’re going Out” (requested and confirmed via IM, …

I read the vows section of the Sunday New York Times for the same reason every single, 25-year-old New Yorker does. It features bizarre yet seemingly possible match-making scenarios of the somewhat intellectual, always interesting, usually-over-30 Manhattan-crowd providing once-a-week faith in the fact that my serendipitous story is out there – and publishable. Every so often you get an eye-roller – “Trapeze Instructor Makes the …

This is one of those articles that you finish reading and realize your entire body is clenched. The topic: keys to ensuring you marry the right man. Its thesis statement: it is possible if you follow a simple list of should-be deal breakers. Also, though not on the list, don’t marry a celebrity. The article summarizes the popular lecture of a 79-year-old catholic priest who’s …

Maureen Downes is never quite my flavor, but this recent column raises some interesting issues around the age old question of what makes a man marriage material. Commentary later on. An Ideal Husband “Hollywood says you can be deeply in love with someone and then your marriage will work,” the twinkly eyed, white-haired priest says. “But you can be deeply in love with someone to …

I have this one particularly cynical friend. Not cynical like “all politicians lie” and “sunscreen is a farce.” Cynical like “soul mates are for Disney movies” and “no one in New York gets anywhere on their own merits.” Cynical like a 24-year-old living pay check to pay check. It’s not that he’s been burned one too many times or that he’s just negative by nature. …

We all do it – even the most easy-going and accepting among us. For some it’s less deliberate than others – less pre-meditated and overanalyzed. It just slips in to the natural goings-on like a James Frey lie or the nonchalant reference to a gift we’d really love to get. For others: written, rehearsed, and delivered like butter. I can’t quite settle on a term …

This one is simple but, if I might say so myself, revolutionary. I’ve been spending a lot of time milling around dog parks lately. I don’t have a dog, or hang out with anyone who does, but it’s gotten nice out, and I don’t know what to do with myself now that the Festival is over. I’m not too familiar with dog-owning etiquette, but through …

It really started to hit me after the third conversation that went something like this: Me: Oh nothing much, just worked on another draft of that book.Him: Right, the novel.Me: No, the baby book.Him: Wait, what baby book…? It takes some time to catch someone up on the previous 24 years of your life. After the first series of dates – those interview sessions where …

In fairness, I’ve never raised a child. So I’ve never had to bear seeing that child rejected by a middle school crush or crying because their braces just got tightened too tight. I’m told these rights of parenting passage are particularly difficult for Moms – all part of that love-them-more-than-you-even-knew-you-were-capable-of love that gives 100-pound women the ability to lift vehicles under which their kids are …