I recently read and very much enjoyed Abbi Jacobson’s uproarious Carry This Book (New York: Viking Press, 2016). Jacobson is a trained commercial artist, and, in my opinion, comic mastermind, for she is one of the writers and actors on one of my favorite shows, “Broad City.” “Broad City” parodies the relationships of well-known female buddies such as Lucy and Ethel, Laverne and Shirley, Thelma and Louise, and Oprah and Gail. Abbi and her bestie, Ilana’s, side-splitting che

Ah, Christmas. ‘Tis the season, deck the halls, joy to the world, and all that stuff. Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, and yet, celebrations often come with obligations and complications. Christmas, for those of us that partake in it, has multiple, and sometimes conflicting meanings. For some, Christmas is a religious observance. Although I respect the Christian origins of the holiday, I don’t follow any particular religion, have been to c

In early November, I read Alice Walker’s The Cushion in the Road, and I am still thinking about it. It’s a compilation of essays, letters, and journal entries that cross the genres of personal and professional writing, which I admire. I like how she writes about her upbringing in a poor, patriarchal, Christian home/country/society and how, throughout her life, she has had mixed feelings about her experiences with all these facets of her past. She foregrounds meditation in

My junior year in college, the year I turned twenty-one, was one of the most remarkable in my life. I had my first real, serious relationship, I was working at The Wexner Center for the Arts on the Ohio State University Campus, I was in love with my major, art history, and I was happily living in a somewhat rundown old house on campus with my two best girlfriends. I can’t remember all the details, but that summer, my boyfriend went out of town for something, my step-sister/

As I discussed in my memoir, I tend to have an unusual sleeping and waking schedule. Lately, I’ve been sleeping until 4 or 5 AM, which is good for me. When I am up so early that I can’t stay up late enough to host or to go out for “ladies night,” or to catch a play by my favorite theater company, The Little Green Pig, I get feel disappointed in myself. However, I often am the most energetic and creative in the morning, and I am witness to activities others may not see. For