Brandy, our family dog, always had very little sense of decorum. Regardless of whether or not we were entertaining, she always wanted to raise her leg over her head and lick herself, right there on the living room couch. Guests would awkwardly sip their drinks, all of us pretending not...

Since turning 30, with every passing menstrual cycle, I wonder if I have dropped my last viable egg. This worry, though, that I have shed my procreative capability is like light spotting compared to the heavy flow of fear I have for mothers. Mothers terrify me. Amy Shearn...

There is no delicate way to put this so I am just going to say it: stop inviting me to your showers. Please. I am delighted about your forthcoming nuptials, thrilled to be in attendance at your special day. Need I, though, spend a precious Sunday afternoon rummaging through my...

It occurred to me, recently, that I can't remember when I first started anti-depressants. I can list all the ones I've tried, the sweat-inducing switches I have made to new generations of drugs that promised to make me even less depressed than I was before while still preserving my desire...

At my first doctor's appointment after my mother died, almost eight years ago now, the doctor thought it was important that we talk about grief. I sat on the examining table, hands wedged under my thighs, counting the number of Rockwell paintings in the room. I was twenty-three then, confused...

Unlike much of the population, I love Christmas music. At the grocery store, I hear fellow shoppers groan "already?" to the first sounds of holiday tunes. But for me, radio stations can't start playing them early enough. I like the good ones, like Ertha Kitt's "Santa Baby," and Bruce Springsteen's...

"Lost in Translation" was on the other night, and it always draws me in, no matter what I am doing. I hold my breath when Bill Murray goes back to Scarlett and holds her so tenderly, cupping her head to his chest as he brushes her hair aside and whispers...

I have no voyeuristic tendencies, and while I watch my share of trashy, reality television shows ("Love in the Wild," anyone?) I have yet to sit through an entire episode of "Big Brother." I just find it too unsettling to watch people living their day-to-day lives. Not one to like...

My husband was away for the weekend so one of my friends kindly invited me for dinner Friday night, knowing that I subsist on nothing but cereal if I am left to eat alone. My friend is like the Baby Whisperer and as long as I've known her she has...

I just finished a book in which the 30-something heroine was a feng shui consultant. She would go to people's homes and rearrange their furniture to bring peace and harmony to their lives. She was "living" proof: Having hung a picture here and lit a candle there in her own...

I was at a ceremony for my husband's late grandmother last week and I always feel compelled to visit my mother's grave whenever I'm at the cemetery. We are really not a "visit the grave" kind of family. As my grandmother used to say "dead is dead." I confirmed this...

I don't think I'm ready to have a baby, because I only want to be pregnant on the weekend. On Saturdays, I long for that expectant glow, that little bump in the belly. But come Monday morning, when I'm faced with the miserable prospect of the work week ahead, I...