Carnal Zen is my forum to explore all the ideas, contradictions, religions and credit card bills that pepper my life.
Holidays are filled with merriment, food and in my world - wine. Occasions with loved ones are marked by cramped kitchens and traditions. One tradition that has emerged over the last few years of Thanksgiving with my “family by choice” has been to block out a few moments and have each person at the table [...]
I have been banned.
So I sit, sequestered on the sofa with laptop and a glass of red. Glorious smells waft in from the forbidden kitchen. I’m not allowed to ask what dinner is but the garlic smell is distinct. My toes are buried between cracks in the pear cushions. The front door is swung half open as the cats wander [...]
I don’t like uncertainty and patience is not one of my strengths. Life’s happiest moments rarely coincide with a fresh pedicure and a new dress the way they do on television. There are no dress rehearsals. Real life is unwashed and best served with a side of humility.
My best friend is days away from giving birth to her [...]
I bet you’re doing it too. Precariously balancing relationships, children and work, driving on bald tires, and stretching dollars as though they were made of spandex. We’re all juggling all of the time. Yesterday - the flood gates seemed to open and it was all just too much.
I remember wishing I did not live in this [...]
My dialogue is close to horrible. I love to read but could never write fiction. Plots feel too contrived, too forced. Yet, for as long as I can remember I have been writing scripts. Scripts for how my life would turn out, pages of text filled with expectations and storylines. Far too often I’ve attached [...]