According to the Migraine Research Foundation, 2% of the U.S. population suffers from chronic migraine, a severe disability that dramatically impacts quality of life. For some chronic migraineurs, the condition shifts from episodic to chronic because of long-term medication overuse. For others like myself who are new to migraine treatments, sometimes migraine simply becomes progressive,Continue reading “Facing up to My Disability and My Prejudices”
Monthly Archives: January 2016
The Western Literary Canon, or the Curious Case of the Male Ego
Over the last two years, I’ve read Beowulf, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, More’s Utopia, Aristotle’s Poetics, and sections from The Epic of Gilgamesh. I’ve made a project of the canon because, at 33, I felt that if I want to be the kind of writer I aspire to be, I need to know what I’m workingContinue reading “The Western Literary Canon, or the Curious Case of the Male Ego”
The Androgynous Genius of David Bowie
Growing up Mormon in the 1980s, I didn’t experience much pop culture beyond Rainbow Brite and E.T. But in 1988, I saw Labyrinth and was introduced to the cosmic force that was Planet Earth’s David Bowie. Both frightened and utterly bewitched at age seven, I fell in love. In my white bread, fiercely heteronormative suburb, IContinue reading “The Androgynous Genius of David Bowie”
Passing Normal: When Your Mother Has Autism
I inherited an odd brain. When the winter sun hits the three o’clock slant and stares me straight in the face, I feel like my eye sockets are blistering–even with my eyelids squeezed shut. The wrong colors set my teeth on edge. Dusky reds and velvet purples soothe me. But whites, blues, yellows, and evenContinue reading “Passing Normal: When Your Mother Has Autism”
How the Sexism of The West Wing Turned Me off Sorkin
Back when it first aired, I reacted the way football fans do when their home team wins. I bounced up and down on my parents’ couch whenever the opening credits rolled over the American flag. I giggled at every zinger Josh got in, and I cheered Toby’s every moral triumph. I was also a blissfullyContinue reading “How the Sexism of The West Wing Turned Me off Sorkin”
3 Lessons for the Flashback from Jane the Virgin
Just a few months ago, I was scrolling through Netflix and stumbled across the award-winning CW series, Jane the Virgin. I haven’t logged off since. Jennie Urman and her writing team have worked magic in adapting this telenovela for U.S. audiences. And one of the tools they wield with mastery is the flashback. Now the flashback gets a bad rap,Continue reading “3 Lessons for the Flashback from Jane the Virgin”
