On the wisdom of Gandalf

At the coffee shop, two young women who’ve recently completed their freshman year of college are comparing notes and talking about what they’ll be doing in the fall. Then they move on to a discussion about applying for study abroad programs that will take place in their junior year, and one of them says, “It’s…

So I was on a roll, posting to my blog regularly, and then I hit one of those patches. You know the kind. So I will have some stories. You know there are always stories. But for right now, I wanted to share happiness. Jessica’s new website is up and looks beautiful. I know she…

I see these memes going around: “At age 30, JK Rowling was depressed and wanted to give up, but she didn’t and now she’s worth 15 kajillion dollars, so you shouldn’t give up either!” And I just . . . think that’s bullshit. It’s not helpful. In fact, I think it’s discouraging. You’re more likely…

I am at the coffee shop and I am thinking, which means—today, anyway—that I am staring out the window and wondering whose life I would rather have. Most of the time my observation is none of you people have the slightest idea what the fuck you’re doing, do you? and so my answer is, conveniently,…

So the other day I got an unexpected check in the mail, and I went out and squandered it on a food processor and a Dustbuster. The nineteen-year-old who still lives in my brain was appalled that this is what I would do with a hundred bucks because she would have bought some great shoes…

I like to think I am a highly organized, super-together individual who happens to be a writer, and not one of those flighty people we often imagine when we think of the word “writer.” But sometimes I am one of those flighty people. So I started by spending fifteen minutes looking for my glasses. And…