Cat Power—Sun (Matador) I have seen Cat Power—Chan Marshall—each and every opportunity I get, and every time, she’s a complete mess. Guitar strings break. She begins songs and stops midstream to start again maybe five to six times. Her voice wobbles and breaks. The natives get restless, and I feel an overwhelming sense of humiliation […]
Posted inMusic
A review of The xx’s ‘Coexist’ in haiku
The xx—Coexist (Young Turks) Your voice makes me want A Xanax and a whiskey Romy Madley Croft. Grab your Kleenex and listen to: “Angels,” “Sunset,” “Swept Away”
Posted inPluck
Expert witness – from childfree by choice to motherhood
Last month, I read Pamela Paul’s piece in Vogue (crap, I can’t find it online to link to here. Sorry, everybody) about the politics of the right not to have children – namely the child free by choice movement and the patronizing hassle that women seeking sterilization face. I’ve been thinking about the piece a […]
Posted inMovies
‘Premium Rush’ A Fun Bike Messenger Ride on the Silly Side
I can’t say I remember many of the characters’ names in “Premium Rush.” There’s Wiley, the lead (Joseph Gordon Levitt), and you can remember his name because the characters say it so often and keep making coyote references. Beyond that, it gets a bit challenging. I needed imdb. The basic plot is that an immigrant […]
Posted inRebellious Women in Poetry
this little light of mine
This poem by Deborah Jack further complicates the already complicated feelings surrounding Americans and their varied experiences and beliefs involving the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In an era where global issues are just as important as domestic ones, this poem asks the reader to think outside herself, outside the shared American experience of mourning […]
Posted inColumns Archive
What the Bridesmaids Bash taught me
The inaugural Bridesmaids Bash bar crawl wasn’t just a boozy tribute to the taffeta monsters lurking at the back of our closets (it was definitely that), it was also a valuable learning experience. Here are just some of the insights we gained during our 3-hour trolley tour: 1) You can take the bridesmaids dress out […]
Posted inEssays Archive
It’s my name, and I’m keepin’ it
I was born Jessie Mary Ray, named for my father. I married and became Jessie Mary Hawkins. Went to work, and my new employer renamed me Jessie Ray Hawkins. I divorced and remarried, becoming Jessie Cunningham. After explaining that I was the mother of the Hawkins children at school one time too many, I became […]
Posted inColumns Archive
We’re Not Waifs
Dear Vered, I recently visited one of my best friends who lives across the country. When I stepped off the plane to meet her, I’m ashamed to admit that I had to stop my jaw from dropping. She’s put on at least 50-60 pounds since the last time I saw her. She’s never been what […]
Posted inPluck
Because the words “pussy riot” just don’t appear on mommy blogs enough
I’m sure we all have acquaintances (okay, let’s be real, Facebook friends) who have gotten really fired up about free speech recently. Or some version of a memory of an ate-some-iffy-chow-mein dream of the first amendment. Let me just say here and now that if two chicken sandwiches want to marry each other, make sweet […]
Posted inEssays Archive
Bit o’ honey
I call everybody Honey. My best gay male friends, the server at the restaurant who refills my glass before I even notice it’s empty, and quietly to myself, a woman I see walking down the street in just the wrong outfit. The flavors for these bits of Honey are different, depending on the context, of […]