Make that a BiggieIf you're anything like me, during the week I just can't get it together long enough to cook a healthy meal or eat at a real restaurant. It's easy to eat healthy at home when I have time—I buy a …
[Chickdom] Exactly Where We Ought to BeLife had become overwhelming. I truly believed the children had fed my cleverness to the cat, which explained why the cat puked on my Swiffer every day for a solid week. I mean, a cat has to have boundaries, and …
Watchin' ItThe delicious aroma of oatmeal raisin cookies greets me as I push open the office door. I attempt to rebel against the evil forces pulling me toward the scent. In recent months, there have been pounds' worth of weight-gaining opportunities …
Unita's WorldUnita Blackwell is one of those rare people whose very presence can transform lives.
Singing Without ShameJill Conner Browne, The Sweet Potato Queen, and I are pulling thick wires out of glittered sweet potatoes on a farm in Clinton. Inside a barn, two Sweet Potato Queens, two Spud Studs and the Head SPQ Wannabe are diligently …
Beating Those Winter BluesMarch is a stressful month. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day are all long gone, the days are often gray and cold, and we can't count on another holiday from work for months. The trees are all still bare, …
Your Brain on LoveThe state of being "in love," my therapist told me, is pretty close to insanity. A Jungian, she said that she would not take new patients who were in love; they were unlikely to make any progress. Now, she wasn't …
XX vs. XYDuring a brainstorm session, a thought popped into my mind: I wonder what kind of questions the folks on our blog would ask about love and sex and whatever else if given the opportunity to air it all out, with …
Sexy Side Effects of SeahorseThe world has forever been on the lookout for a good aphrodisiac. Henry Kissinger said it was power and money, which might be your only hope if you look like Kissinger (or The Donald). Isabel Allende said it's words, while …
Princess for PresidentLast week I spoke to fifth-grade girls about my career as a writer. Seems like just another day at the elementary school, except I'm a woman speaking to a gender-separated classroom where "no boys allowed" provides for more open dialogue. …
Excuses, ExcusesWhen it comes to exercise, or avoiding it, some of us have creative, if lame, excuses—my cat will miss me, for example. For the most part, though, our excuses aren't unique.
The Big Fix Is InFinding displaced and abandoned dogs after Katrina wasn't difficult. Offers of food can usually persuade dogs to trust rescuers. Cats presented a different challenge. Frightened cats hide from strangers and noise, sometimes in places so inaccessible that no amount of …
Art For The BodyIf you loop around downtown trying to get a gander at the King Edward, you need to stop your car and visit Ink Spot, which opened six months ago, a block from the hotel. Ink Spot is a combined tattoo …
Gifts That MatterEvery time I pick up my mail these days, I get a half-dozen pleas from non-profits and charities to send money. Unfortunately for them, it was last year that I had the cushy big-corporation management job. This year is going …
Gifts Losers Don't GiveIt's only days until Christmas and—this is the point where a lot of people really screw up. If—like me—you haven't quite finished your shopping (or started), you might be tempted to run to a mall and grab anything that looks …