
Day of fears overcome
America is obsessed with “National __ Day” celebrations. When I first heard of one, National Ice Cream Day, I thought, [...]

Workout mat’s therapy session
The conversation begins this way, more or less predictably: “And how does that make you feel?” “Well, obviously not good.” [...]

The frosting first manifesto
To: Eat the Cake First and Save the Frosting, the Best, for Last, to the attention of the party chairperson [...]

I go to… America!
It hit me recently that while travelers and bloggers who fall for Italy can’t get enough of conveying their rapture, [...]

The gridlock called regret
I wish I could tell you just which Los Angeles freeway I was on when, gridlocked, I took to pondering [...]

Reflections on rejection
When, regardless of the setting, people hear that I’m an actress, they usually have four comments that follow each other [...]

Give me back my coloring book!
Dear Grown-Up Nora: Lots of time has passed since my last assessment of you, which was when you (we) were [...]

Step aside, Victor Hugo
I once envied the lucky critics able to reflect at length on the works of Proust or Dickens with near-casual [...]

Life in phone hell
Today I’m here to address a life-long fear I’ve carried with me from year to year, from country to country, [...]

666 to Hell’s kitchen: Get creative!
From: Satan, Post Office Box 666, New Jersey Turnpike (please leave pitchfork shipments with red-uniformed concierge) To: Pet Peeves Department [...]

Superhero on a budget
I was listening to a podcast with Robert Downey Jr. the other day. He gained worldwide notoriety for playing Iron [...]