Author, Journalist, Pop Folklorist
Navigating a modern world with the help of time-tested traditions
What is a Liminal Stage?
Liminal stages are psychological thresholds, times of transition when we stand “betwixt and between” one state and another. The biggies are birth, marriage, death-cultures develop splashy rituals around these transitions to ease the anxiety they provoke. For the smaller, but significant, crossroads we traverse every day, I offer the celebrations, superstitions, and coping mechanisms found in this blog.
This Palm Sunday, Holy week started off with a bang. Actually it was a kick, more of a kickline, from the party-girl-in-utero. We had gone to church to observe the holiday and the choir was singing a hymn for the Blessing of the Palms service. This apparently inspired a frenetic, religious dance from the little…
Read more about The Sacred and the Profane–Holy Weeks I Have Known
Many parts of Lent are solemn, and some are downright sad; I once saw a woman crying so much during a Good Friday service on the island of Corfu that I whispered to my mother, “You should tell her it has a happy ending.” Because that’s the whole point of Easter, right? The Resurrection, the…
Read more about I Come in Peace–or How I Learned to Stop Fearing Palm Sunday
One would think that money matters, being mathematical, are purely practical, as opposed to emotional or mystical. But one would be wrong. According to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, financial problems are the second most commonly cited reason married couples divorce (after poor communication, but ahead of infidelity). So I think that covers emotional…
So, I promised you that every post would not be about pregnancy. But I did not promise that every blog would not be about pregnancy’s greatest pleasure–food. (Trust me, when booze, caffeine, effective wrinkle cream, traveling to high altitudes, and various and sundry sports including windsurfing and horseback riding are off the menu for nine…
I’m a walking waiting room, a human transition. I’m 20 weeks pregnant, halfway to becoming a mom. It’s beyond exciting–and a little surprising, given that I got pregnant a month after getting married, and at what doctors like to call the “advanced maternal age” of 36. Actually, I lied. It’s been more than a little…
Read more about Pregnancy–the Most Liminal Stage of Them All
So, this weekend we were way down yonder in New Orleans. And I apologize in advance if I feel the need to quote any more cheesy old standard songs. Because if I do feel so inspired, I will go right ahead and quote them. Why? Cause I did it my way. OK, enough of that….
I love covering places that inspire me—from Greece to Nicaragua and everywhere in between—for outlets such as Travel+Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, InStyle and more. Join me on my trips here.
From parenting to politics to pop culture, I’ve got opinions —and I’m not afraid to share them in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. Learn why I’m a bad mom here.