That Time You…

  The story goes that this one kid brought a plastic green dinosaur to Show and Tell. It was a giganotosaurus, but to the child showing it, it was a “chicken-notosaurus.” “Hahaha,” the class laughed along. And one by one,…

  Each beginning of October, long after school begins, when football is in full swing, and piles of pumpkins greet us at the entrances to every store, New Orleanians are reminded that, down here, it’s still summer. It’s hot, dry…

  I’ve started working out again. I don’t like it. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t look forward to it. Nor do I miss it on my off days. I altogether hate it, but I have no choice. That fast…

  Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by math class. It didn’t matter how clever the question in school. Math didn’t just elude me, it bored me to tears and exposed each and every one of my…

  Well, I’ve made a decision. It is neither convenient nor cheap. But if life has taught me anything, it is that the road to finding comfort in your own skin isn’t paved in velvet. After decades of stuffing Band-Aids…

  The problem with believing in anything is that belief itself is a delicate thing. Last week I met a small business owner, Stephanie Chambliss, who recently opened a PJ’s coffee shop in New Orleans East. Many folks from New…

  Today, I am a solid 3. That number used to be a lot higher. When I was a better friend. Once upon a time, I was a really great friend. Grandpa was my example. He surrounded himself with friends…

  So it usually starts out something like this:  I am between one, two, maybe seven people whom I know, but more like know-ish. We’re not strangers, but there isn’t an established history of hanging out, laughing over drinks, or…

  Ever get the feeling you are on the outside looking in? You know everyone there. You recall snippets of memories and moments with every face that turns to you. These are not strangers, yet the only thing familiar is…

  My life has always been categorized by playlists. This filing system began way back when I got my first Walkman and created an original mixtape over painstaking hours of recording and pausing while listening to B97 FM. Back then,…

  Last week I stepped outside my comfort zone. Not only did I survive, but I had a breakthrough. I’ve allowed no vagueness about my preference for city life over country living. Nature and I only mix well when certain…

  As a child, it all looked so different. Years later, you’re holding what’s left of dreams and think: You’re not where you thought you’d be. Those daydreams of childhood didn’t pan out as you pictured. Wondering plagues you with…

  The other day Fiona was making a video with three girlfriends. I think they were playing some make-believe version of "America’s Got Talent" or another star-searching competition show. One friend was the host, the other was the singer, and…

  Growing up, I only went on one vacation that wasn’t to a family camp. That single exception became the makings of family lore still told today. My oldest sister was performing summer stock in Utah that July, sparking the…

  Once upon a time my family vacation looked different – no fuss, no glamour, but full of all the classic summer substance that freckles childhood. Mom’s family had a lake house upon a hill that rolled down to the…

  The first time I sat across from him, I knew we’d clicked, but I also got the immediate sense that I’d be working in a manner I never had before. He was the biggest man in the room at…

  Last summer I encountered a surge of domesticity prompting two culinary purchases: A really good cast-iron skillet set and a moderately snazzy outdoor grill. I took weirdly obsessive care of the skillets, seasoning them properly. Upon each wipe of…

  I was twelve the first time I really heard myself. Ms. S. is what we called the choir director at school. She was a sharp, interested woman, tasked with breathing art and fantasy into a rather vanilla set of…

  I’m pretty sure I broke three cardinal rules of parenting within 55 minutes last Friday morning. Somehow May has become the busiest month of the year, busier than December, busier than February in New Orleans even. It is a…

What I find most difficult about grief is the disobliging nature of it. Its waves come without warning. When we try to stifle them, up they rise. When we will the pain of it gone, it sticks to our bones…

It was in second grade that I first experienced total and complete mortification, leaving a scar on my psyche against which all future blunders would be measured. It was taco day, and I was biting into one of Ms. Marie’s…

In New Orleans, no matter how much we grow from tech booms and film booms, championships and top ten rankings, that small-town vibe we’re known for stays put. We are well aware of the risk we take ducking into the grocery…

I was six years old when I started going to dancing school, and I took to it instantly. At my first recital I tapped to “Me and My Shadow” in a sparkly minidress and top hat. For ballet we were dolls with…