BROOKLYN, NY -

I spent this past summer in Chicago. I subleted a studio apartment near the lake and figured I’d pass the time alternately reading, writing and exploring the city. I was raised in its suburbs, but because I spent most of my teen years in a roadside Denny’s memorizing “Rent” lyrics while simultaneously indulging my eating disorder over peppermint tea and bowls of kosher pickles, I never really got to know Chicago as a city. I decided it was time to change that. Nowadays I know no one there besides my parents, brother and grandmother, but I figured they’d keep me busy with endless – ENDLESS! – conversations on subjects as diverse as guilt, scotch, hair loss, and the merits of well-seasoned tuna fish. All this conversation, plus my aforementioned itinerary. I figured I’d be busy. (more…)

BROOKLYN, NY -

My sophomore year in college I lived in a dorm room with three other women - Celest, Jessica and Remy - and first semester we decided it would be really, really funny if we gave each other nicknames in accordance with our most noteworthy physical aspects: Celest had tremendous breasts – pert and big and round – wonderful, truly, and so we called her ‘Boobs.’ Jessica had perfectly shaped, mile-long legs, and so we called her ‘legs.’ I had what’s called a ‘shelf-ass,’ the sort to effectively balance a Zima (I tried this and succeeded in 1999) and so I got called ‘Ass.’ Lastly there was Remy who, allegedly, sported a fist-sized clitoris. And so we called her ‘Clit.’ We had covered all the bases of relevant female anatomy, and we were proud.

(more…)