Being still is not easy for me. I’m not talking about not moving or not being able to just rest. I can laze around the house for days with the best of them. I’m talking about not taking action when someone in my life is hurting. Most of the time, there’s… Read full post »

Remember the mix tape? That little musical gift you’d give to someone special to tell them how you felt? I can’t say I ever got one. But I heard about them a lot from other people. I see the appeal of the mix tape. Sometimes music better expresses our feelings than… Read full post »

You ever have a moment you'd like to take back? I’m having one of those moments. You see, I’ve been a bit of a selfish bitch today. I got so wrapped up in my own crap that I lost sight of something much more important. I lost sight of someone who… Read full post »

Something has been on my mind more than usual lately. Maybe it’s all the turmoil in the world. Maybe it’s a side effect of getting older. Maybe it’s all my neuroses having a party but not inviting me. Whatever the reason, I keep thinking about life and mortality. Events this week… Read full post »

You've been haunted by the monsters for far too long. They dog you when you are vulnerable. I know some of these monsters, the ones that tell you you'll end up alone, the ones who tell you not to trust. I hear them too.  But there are other monsters screaming, ones… Read full post »

Do you know how important you are to me?

That you came into my life at the perfect moment?

You're on my mind day and night?

When I see a message from you my face lights up and I feel lighter?

That I think you are absolutely amazing?

The hours between… Read full post »

Gabrielle sat staring at the blank screen. There were so many thoughts running through her head, she just didn’t know where to even start. She’d always had a gift for words, but lately she had often felt…speechless. That was the effect Lucy had on her. When she thought about Lucy,… Read full post »

Thinking back to that email, she could hardly believe it had been two months. They had both admitted a romantic attraction to the other, and from there, things just took off. Two months had felt like so much longer, and not a single day had passed when they didn’t talk to… Read full post »

Fate is a strange thing, Gabrielle thought as she looked out over the water. The weather was unseasonably warm for February, so she decided to take a walk along the river during her lunch. So much had happened in the last six months that she often wondered if any of it… Read full post »

Every morning for the last few months, she woke up feeling like she was in a fog. Well, almost every morning. On weekends, she usually woke up feeling a little better. She wasn’t sure if that was because she could sleep later or because she didn’t have to go to work.… Read full post »

I think I’m going to take an unusual approach to Valentine’s Day this year. After all, it will just be me and the dog. It has never been my favorite holiday. I’d rather have small romantic gestures and displays of love throughout the year, instead of one major showing on a… Read full post »

A year ago, OS lost a kind, generous, and loving member of its community. Though I didn’t know Safe Bet as well as some of you, I know from her writing and from many conversations with Amy that she was someone who gave of herself freely. She was smart, funny, and… Read full post »

You probably wouldn’t know it just looking at her. By all appearances, she seems happy, successful, and loved. For the most part, she is. But it’s that “happy” part that is toughest for her to pull off. There are moments when she is genuinely happy, but they never last. Let&rs… Read full post »

I knew that eventually this day would come, but I still find myself not quite prepared for it. Nothing can really last forever, so why should our relationship be any different. We’ve been through a lot together, though, you and I. We’ve seen love, laughter, tears, disappointment, anger, h… Read full post »

There I was, standing at the checkout counter, mentally listing all the stuff I need to do this weekend, when her voice broke through my concentration.

“May I please see your ID?”

Huh? I shook my head and looked at her, perplexed by the words that came out of… Read full post »

I’ve come to the conclusion that my last relationship was like a horrible game of pin the tail on the donkey, except the damn ass never stood still. Yes, trying to meet the ever-changing and never-satisfied demands and moods of my ex was a losing proposition. But damn if I didn’t… Read full post »

I think I’ve been spending far too much time thinking lately. A little thinking is great, but for me, too much usually results in a battle of wills between the Jekyll and Hyde in my brain. Why all the thinking? A lot of reasons. I actually have enough quiet now to… Read full post »

I’ve had a lot of time over the last few months to actually sit and be alone with my thoughts. This used to be a treacherous undertaking. Life with my ex was…bumpy. There wasn’t much I was happy about and nothing I did was ever good enough. I felt like I… Read full post »

My writing is more about inspiration and less about location. I spend 40 hours a week at the office, which also happens to coincide with the time of day that I’m most coherent. If inspiration strikes, I take a break, whip open a document, and pound out a post. Most of… Read full post »

The first time I heard this song, I was watching the movie Notting Hill. I fell in love with it before it was even over. For me, it's about the duality of our own nature. The good and the bad. The sacred and the profane. The yin and the yang. The… Read full post »

Christmas with my family is not for the faint of heart. It is often a whirlwind of snark, sarcasm, jokes, and fast-moving conversations…and that’s all before noon. By the end of the day, we’re usually wiped out and have sore stomachs and faces from laughing all day. Here’s a… Read full post »

I will turn 37 in a little over two months. The last thirteen years have been spent in two long-term relationships…just not long enough I guess. A new ending means a new beginning. With a new year around the corner, I’m looking at the possibilities that are now out there for… Read full post »

When I started my weekly music posts back in May, I had no idea how important they would become to me as a creative outlet. Those posts stopped in September, right around the time my personal life exploded around me. I didn’t have it in me to write about music or… Read full post »

There are only two things that will get me into a mall at this time of year: Life-and-death emergencies or family traditions. That's it. Anything else is either a brief delusional act brought on by a high fever or a kidnapping. I've been shopping online since Amazon started. I see that… Read full post »