Writing
Why You Don’t Have Community (and How to Build it)
Cities are like swarms of independent ants. People scurry to and from various engagements, prodded by an overbooked calendar and FOMO - Fear of Missing Out. Crowds roll over like an incoming set of waves, and we easily lose one another. Our constant buzzing through...
Egg Freezing: What They Don’t Tell You
Should corporations store our future in the freezer? Or is this giving a select few false security with a bizarre fad? Facebook and Apple’s decision to pay for women’s egg freezing has stimulated new controversy in women’s cocktail conversations. “I feel this sends a...
When ‘The One’ isn’t The One (and Marries Someone Else)
Do you remember…when you thought you found ”The One?” The One you wrote poems about at 3am because the butterflies kept you from sleeping. And eating. And all other human functions that disappear when infatuation invades your body. You didn’t even poop for three...
Don’t Do This in Your 30’s
It was August in San Francisco. The morning fog was so thick I wanted to spread it on my toast. I also wanted its gray shroud to smother the fact that my birthday was approaching and another year would be added to my social media profiles. “Heidi,” a friend told me...
How to Fall in Love in 5 Minutes
“Have you ever been in love?” I asked a Frenchman with a mustache the size of a baguette. I was technically in Paris for work, but couldn't resist badgering strangers, researching the prospect of “easy love.” The Frenchman looked at me like I was crazy. “Mais oui,...
Finger Lickin’ Freedom: 4 Things I Love About America….
I left San Francisco as Friday’s sunset descended, hightailing it on Interstate 80 to make Tahoe for Memorial Day weekend. My speakers blasted Steely Dan and I sang along off key, hoping the wind from my open windows would enhance my soprano. My mind, once saturated...
Addicted to Intensity*: Interview with a Serial Crisis Zone Doctor
Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” When we try to help people in third world conflict or disaster zones, we often reach out with...
Have Regrets? Get Over It.
Ten years ago I moved to San Francisco with everything I owned packed up in a Honda Civic. The value of my student loan debt far outweighed the value of my material possessions and if I didn’t find a job quickly, I’d have to pawn my shoe collection. I liked my shoes,...
New York vs. San Francisco: In Quotes
My two favorite cities. One I reside in, the other I play in. The Bold Italic recently posted a few articles with the catch phrase, “The Manhattanization of San Francisco" lamenting the two cities' similarities. However, crazy salaries and ridiculous rents aside, San...
A Love Letter to my Liver
February 14, 2014 Dear Liver, It was always you. Other lovers, organs and parts have come and gone (oh, poor tonsils) but it is only you that have remained stoically in love and support of me throughout my trying life. Our journey together has been magical and this...