ME: Honey, do you know why all the sales people kept telling you how pretty your eyes were today? RUBY: Because I have brown skin and they don’t think brown skin is very good. ME: Well (crap), no. (Think quick.) That’s not why. (Address it or not to address it, that is the question.) I [...]
My big almost-kindergartener. Who’s buying me the first cocktail?
In February of 2004, I flew to San Francisco on a whim. My friends decided to tie the knot, take the plunge, insert-your-own-cliché here and Gavin Newsom was the only person who brave enough to let them do it. It was a Sunday and the marriages had been taking place since Friday, so the crowds [...]
I never really understand why people are hesitant to take their kids to the Gay Pride Parade. Over the weekend, I had several different conversations about it—since I’d planned to take Ruby—and got several interesting reactions. One couple I met at breakfast this morning said that they’d always wanted to go, but motioned toward their [...]
I love fashion. It’s not a secret. But I’m not very good at putting things together in a creative or original way. I actually suck at it. Quite magnificently. When I go shopping, which I don’t care for at all, I tend to buy the same thing over and over and over again. I don’t [...]
“Aw, shit,” I said to the car radio today, forgetting all about my impressionable roommate in the back seat. “What, mama?” Ruby asked. So I explained to her that there was a big accident that had caused oil to pour out from a broken pipe deep in the sea and that it’s hurting a lot [...]
If you happen to be free tonight (Tuesday, May 4), come by The Loft for the opening reception for “Exploring the ‘M’ Word,” a student produced art exhibition highlighting the complexities of motherhood. The show, curated by Aimee Harlib and co-sponsored by the UCSD Women’s Center, runs through May 21st. I will be reading a [...]
Everything changes. Of all the many things about which I am uncertain, this is not one of them. The only thing we can count on in life is that everything—and I do mean everything—will change. Nothing stays the same and I hold onto this knowledge when life is darkest. It is the philosophy which has [...]
Every Wednesday at 5-o’clock, Ruby has swim class. Once her thirty minutes of floating, leaping, belly-flopping and retrieving pink plastic rings has elapsed, it is our routine to head for the locker room and change her into her “soft pants.” This has proven to be a giant effort because while I’m trying to get her [...]
“Mama, I’m gonna give you a kiss you when you get home. I’m gonna give you a giant, giant, GIant hug when you get home.”