When I was finishing up my MFA in Creative Writing, I had no job prospects. My experience impressed no one. Besides being an instructor at the university, I had been a cocktail waitress, a breakfast waitress at a place called The Eggery that was perpetually out of eggs, an artists’ model, a retail worker, and a person who pestered shoppers to take surveys

A year or two ago, someone in one of my writing groups told me she didn’t like to smile too much because of the gap between her front teeth. I pointed out that some extremely attractive celebrities have imperfect teeth, such as Anthony Mackie… and Tom Hardy. I understood how she felt, though. When I was growing up, my parents

This is me when you invite me to a thing: And this is me the day of your thing: I’m getting better, though, because I’m tired of being anxious every time, and I refuse to be that person who flakes out and doesn’t show up at the last minute. Nobody likes that person! Actually, plenty of people like that person,

This week The Telegraph published their list of “Top 50 Things That Make Britons Feel Great,” based on a survey they did. It’s not a list of things like “peace” or “my precious children,” but about tangible pleasures. I knew I had to do my own list, mostly because thinking about good things puts you in a good mood. My list is fairly