It is your first time getting a Brazilian wax and you tell the lady as much when she asks, despite your desire to lie.
“It’s not that bad,” she says with a laugh. “Don’t worry.”
“I’ve had two kids so I can’t imagine it will hurt more than giving birth.”
She smiles. “Oh, you’ll do fine then.”
You and she get to talking, mostly about your children (she has a 5 year old) and after a while she blurts out, “how old are you?”
You hesitate before answering, then reply, “30.”
Why did she ask, you wonder. Probably for the…
A few days ago, rapper Lil Nas X released a music video for his song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”. It’s an interesting video with a lot of eye catching imagery. What’s got people most upset is a scene depicting the rapper seducing Satan and becoming the King of Hell.
Mainstream Christianity has been condemning queer people to Hell for decades. More “liberal” Christian’s express their homophobia in more delicate ways, with terms like “tolerance”. They will tolerate you but they will not really accept you. …
“Much as drug addicts are urged to erase the contact information of their dealers from their electronic devices, when we find ourselves cyberstalking someone repeatedly…we have to realize we are playing with an old wound…if we want to avoid deepening the pain we feel about a fresh loss or reactivating the wounds of an old one, we have to eliminate our ability to do so…” -Guy Winch, ”How To Fix a Broken Heart”
Last week, I found myself stalking several people on social media. My stalking was not just old exes. It was ex’s exes and former friends and friends…
Every time I find myself in conflict with a stranger or someone I don’t know well, I remember a conversation with a friend of mine from our college days. This friend was discussing an issue of tension between herself and another girl on our campus. My friend had said something and this something was repeated and the afore mentioned girl got an attitude about it.
The details aren’t relevant but what is, is that the girl was far more invested in the “beef” than my friend was. My friend’s conclusion on the situation was simple, “she doesn’t have a problem…
I recently came across a tweet where a girl was trying to sell some of her old clothes to help with her college funds. Totally fine. However in the post, she made a comment about how “Depop girls” are terrible, or something to that degree. While I am far too old to be considered a Depop girl (I’ve been selling on Ebay since long before Depop even existed) the comment didn’t sit right with me.
Someone asked the girl what she meant and she explained that, it was bad to go into the thrift store, buy something that someone else…
Stop calling them to solve problems. They don’t.
Police do not stop or solve problems. It’s not what they have been trained to do. It’s not what they have a vested interest in doing. Police do not protect people. Again, not what they’re trained for, not what they have an interest in. There is a point, obviously, with cases that have escalated into violence, where law enforcement has to be called, but they do nothing to prevent violence in the first place.
In the case of the 9 year old Black girl from Rochester, New York who was pepper sprayed…
It’s important to check in with others…and yourself.
2020 was difficult for all of us for many different reasons. Though I set out in January 2020 with the goal of writing and publishing everyday on this platform, the reality is that Medium is not a major source of income for me. During an already busy and expensive month during an already stressful and draining year, it made sense to me, from a self-care perspective, to take some time off from pressing that publish button. Instead, I decided to check in both with people who have supported me on here and…
Here’s what to do when you suspect you’re being lied to.
Years ago I used to occasionally do readings at a local DC restaurant called Busboys and Poets, where they hosted an open mic night. Sometimes friends would come to support me but often I went alone. On one such night, I ran into a friend’s boyfriend at the open mic. Actually, he saw me first and waved me over. He was with two girls but I thought nothing of it. We spoke briefly and I went on my merry way. Later, when I mentioned seeing him to my friend…
Here’s what I wish someone had told me before I became a mother.
When I was 21, a good friend of mine had a baby. Though we had not spoken in years, she invited me to her baby shower and I was excited to attend. Of course, one part of this was the delight of seeing a friend after many years but another part was that I was stepping into my own desire to be a mother, one day. I remember wanting to feel close to her — to be a part of her proverbial “village” — but not knowing…
creative writer, creative speller.