A few weeks ago, I was having drinks with some girlfriends when Ginger White, Herman Cain's mistress, made her way into the conversation. One member of our party aggressively stated, "Oh I saw her picture. She is not attractive -- at all! She is just not pretty." I...

As a 22-year-old cocktail waitress, I envied one of my fellow female servers for two reasons: 1. Her boyfriend, and 2. The ease with which she used the word vagina. She jumped up on the bar one day and said, "I hope my vagina isn't showing." Obviously I recognized the...

The first call came at 8:37 a.m. I looked at my phone: Why is my cousin Kevin calling me on a Saturday morning? I rolled back over. The second call came seven minutes later at 8:44. It was my mother. Two family calls before 9 a.m., I figured I better...

My sister attended a funeral a few weeks ago. The organist and beloved choir teacher from our childhood church had passed away. I couldn't make it, so she gave me updates on the people she saw. "Brenda has four kids, and she wants you to call her. Chris and Joanne...

"You send your fiancé to the dry cleaners one day and he comes back gay," says Kiri Blakeley in her new book, "Can't Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love." 10 years into her relationship with fiancé, Aaron, he told her he was gay. At first...

This Valentine's Day, curl up with your lover, gay best friend, or a group of girl friends, and watch a flick that commemorates the timeless art of putting prose on paper. Here are some top-notch letter-writing movies celebrating both platonic and romantic love:

10. The Shop Around the Corner...

I've always wanted breasts. I never got them. In my early teens I'd try on one of mother's bikinis. I'd wear coral lipstick and prophesy, "By this time next year, I'll fit into this!" She no longer has that pink-and-white striped bathing suit, but if she did, I still wouldn't...

It was an ordinary afternoon, and I logged onto Facebook to kill the last few minutes of the workday. Mixed among the usual status updates about baseball teams and weekend plans, was a troubling declaration from my friend Layla (name has been changed). Layla lamented that kids were picking on...

My sister and I have a decidedly irreverent attitude toward death. We don't laugh in the face tragedy or at the passing of people we know and love. We're just cheeky as far as our own deaths are concerned. For example, every time I travel internationally, I scrawl a haphazard...

The recent snowstorm that descended mercilessly on the mid-Atlantic, had adults thinking like children. Many were wishing (with all their might) that they, too, would have a snow day. The alternative--digging their cars out from beneath a foot of snow just to go to jobs that make them miserable--was not...

I saw the movie Coco Before Chanel last weekend and am thrilled to add Coco Chanel to my list of extraordinary women who never got married. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of married women -- my mother especially -- and I'm not opposed to being one someday....

Infidelity and the institution it demolishes -- marriage -- are all the rage (again). This time it's thanks to Senator John Ensign, Governor Mark Sanford, and civilian Jon Gosselin. Despite these recent scandals and ever sobering divorce rates, the New York Times offers an optimistic analysis: "Marriage Stands Up...

Earlier this week, author Alice Hoffman issued an apology to Roberta Silman -- the reviewer she attacked via Twitter. And here it is:

I feel this whole situation has been completely blown out of proportion. Of course I was dismayed by Roberta Silman's review which gave away...

My sister and I are very organized when it comes to Christmas -- but in different ways. She is on top of gift getting. Her presents are all purchased and wrapped to perfection two weeks in advance. Whereas I am all about sending cards out. I hand-write a few each...

On November 25th St. Martins Press will release a book that has already been published--from my quick count--at least five times. This isn't the sixth printing of one book, but rather the sixth different book with a seemingly varied title but the exact same core material. The sixth time is...

Have you noticed that journalists and talk show hosts alike cite the ever-rising divorce rate like it's a bad thing?

Okay, so maybe it's not the BEST thing either, but it's not discussed often enough what a personal triumph ending a relationship can be. Maybe you made a mistake--got...

I once had a boyfriend. He once read my journal. He read all about me sleeping with another man. I no longer had a boyfriend.

In the end, it helped our situation. The relationship had been over for a while, for me anyway, and I was too much of...

I was on the phone with a friend last night and he said, "Do you know who Dick Cavett is?" I perked up and responded, "I do, and I've been meaning to blog about him." I knew the seemingly random but cosmically governed mention of Dick's name meant I could...

Us non-moms can occasionally be caught running our mouths off about child rearing. We operate under the illusion that we'll raise little soldiers who mind their manners and never cry at restaurants.

I was once guilty of these intermittent comments. Then one day my mother shared with me an...

I'm here to (gladly!) report that other people are the most inaccurate measuring stick you will ever hold up to yourself.

Hi, my name is Samara, and I've been single for six years.

Hi Samara.

Oh no, sorry--wrong group of people.

Anyway, as a long-term...