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Listen Here: Reflections on Learning to Interview
In the eight months since I started interviewing people for CultureMap and for my own blog, I have spent a lot of time listening to myself on tape. The very first stage of my development as an...
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Thanks for Slut-Shaming a Teen Rape Victim, CultureMap!
In 2012, I published 24 articles in CultureMap, many of which I’m very proud of. A few weeks ago the smart, kind editor who encouraged me to write for them in the first place, who gave me tips on...
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The Blog Hop, or, All About My Mots d’Heures
A couple of weeks ago I was invited by Julie Gillis to participate in a “blog hop,” which is kind of like a chain letter without the threats of supernatural punishment should you fail to do it in a...
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Number 23
I recently heard the saying, Hold on tightly, let go lightly, for the first time. It’s true and it rhymes, which, in the world of aphorisms, is like being both valedictorian and prom queen. I have...
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Vagina‘s Voice, or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Young Feminism
I’m a grumpy old feminist. (And if almost-35 doesn’t seem old to you, just focus on the “grumpy” part.) I started noticing patriarchal bullshit when I was 15, before I knew what to call it, and that’s...
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Teaching Tigers
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel is the one book that all high-schoolers universally adore. We give it to them to read at home on their own, while in class we cover the core curriculum via...
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Those Are Jumpsuits, Dummy
While intoxicated earlier this evening, I sketched this New Yorker cartoon on my husband’s iPad: “Personally, I think the DIY movement is bad for women.” I feel that in addition to expressing something...
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My article about hybridized genres at the LA Review of Books!
My article about hybridized genres at the LA Review of Books! America, with its relative lack of codified, non-race-based class distinctions, has always been a good place for working out questions of...
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Meet the Monster
This is a piece I wrote a while back, when I was still counting what migraine I was on. Since I had another one yesterday, I figure it’s time to get it out of my posting queue. It’s about how I see my...
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I’m Naive, Not Stupid. There’s a Difference.
Gathering in the rotunda. Drop in the bucket of orange pro-choice supporters. This morning I woke up after a surreal night with a lot on my mind. One phrase in particular was ringing in my ears: “Don’t...
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It’s Democracy, English!
The line to get into the Senate gallery wrapped three times around the Capitol rotunda. This is a follow-up to my previous post, “I’m Naive, Not Stupid. There’s a Difference.” I am still reeling a...
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Our Bodies, Our Voices
I have a new essay up at The Rumpus called ”Bodies That Mattered,” where I talk about the use of the word “choice,” the silencing of Texas women, and other stuff. I never thought I’d end up writing so...
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To Answer Your Question, Sir
During all the hubbub surrounding the passage of HB2 and the suppressing of women’s constitutional rights here in Texas, I was asked a very reasonable question by a very kind friend. He’s a guy I like...
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Laughter, Part I
I’m writing two posts (or more? I don’t know) about the funny. This is the first. The next one will be about gender and the funny, and why you should totally run out and see the new Aubrey Plaza movie...
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The Stars at Night: Blogging for Wendy
This is something I’ve never done before, or even imagined doing, to be frank. Keep in mind, I’m a journalist who primarily covers books and authors. When I’m feeling especially relevant, I write about...
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Nature Girl
As I work on a novel that is somewhat scary and also relentlessly realistic, I’ve also been wanting, for the first time since high school, to write short stories. I’ve never been much of a story...
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Jack’s Dad
Another Texas-themed horror story. Spoilers for Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s a flash and a thump-thump and a high-pitched scream, then nothing. A moment later, the car is at rest, headlights...
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Rough Draft of a List of My Successes
1) I have it better than most people in this world. I’m surrounded by friends and family, and married to my favorite living organism. I get to do so many things I want to do, including write. 2) I...
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Skin Is Powerful When It’s Right Next to Yours
It shouldn’t take holding a baby in my arms for me to see the events of Ferguson as personal. It shouldn’t matter that the baby is my nephew. I shouldn’t need to remember his recent warmth on my lap,...
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Sins of the Author
[tl;dr: There's a shorter, sillier update on this whole kerfuffle in my column today over at the Austin Chronicle.] Last week a crazy (for me) thing happened: James Wood, senior book critic at the New...
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