“Annie had a tantrum because our magazine had a Fun Zone with puzzles and I did all the puzzles. So she started stomping around but Mommy got sick of it so Annie went to time out in our room and turned out all the lights. I tried to go inside but she kicked her boots at me. I … | Continue reading
“Having twins made me a more relaxed parent. When you watch two kids grow up at the same time, it makes you less concerned about benchmarks. Each of them had different talents and struggles. He could do all the physical stuff first. We had to put a net on the crib because he … | Continue reading
“I want to make sure I don’t miss a second of connectedness to the brands I’m representing. In the digital world, there’s always this feeling that if you don’t respond back—it’s a lost opportunity. If someone is talking to you, you have to answer or they might think you don’t c … | Continue reading
“I was raised with that Jewish intellectual worship of knowledge. But all my professors in college were small-minded nasty little bitches getting off on their own power, wanting me to parrot them while telling me they didn’t. So I decided I was a nihilist and that I was going t … | Continue reading
“I’m doing a review of last year. I’m looking at all the goals I set and whether I managed to achieve them. A big one for me was that I finally managed to get my driver’s license. It’s a little embarrassing because I’m well past that age, but I’ve always been terrified of driv … | Continue reading
“I was at a rave when I was sixteen, and my mates said ‘Try this.’ And it made me the opposite of who I normally am. I’d always been really shy, but suddenly I was dancing in the crowd and talking to everyone around me. Everyone else had issues too so it felt like I belonged. … | Continue reading
“We met two years ago at the office. At the time he’d just gotten out of a really bad breakup. It started with just lunch and coffee. Then we started meeting after work. We hooked up a little– somewhere between second and third base. I told him that I liked him so if it wasn … | Continue reading
“He’s always wanted kids. So I thought: ‘We’ll roll the dice and see what happens.’ I honestly didn’t think I’d get pregnant. They say it’s harder when you’re older, but here we are. I’m not confident that I’m going to be a good mom. I think of maternal women as women who’ve … | Continue reading
“My father had an ulcer that became infected. It was relatively simple to cure but he refused to believe the doctors. Instead he diagnosed himself with some sort of virus. He stopped taking his medicine. He created his own ointments instead. He’s very intelligent so his reas … | Continue reading
“I’m studying abroad right now. I have a bit of a ‘boyfriend thing’ going on back home. He’s a nice guy. We met at a party and twenty minutes later he held my hair while I vomited. Even though I wasn’t very attracted to him, he intrigued me. I’d never met a boy who didn’t ju … | Continue reading
“I’m not looking to set the world on fire, but I need something to challenge me. It feels like I’m reaching a critical juncture and I need to make some sort of decision. Up until now I’ve just been floating along. I’ve been at the same job for a long time. I do the same thing … | Continue reading
“I moved here from Kenya with my husband. He became very abusive when we arrived. He made sure I didn’t have any friends. If anyone came to visit me, he’d immediately say: ‘I don’t like them.’ I was scared all the time. When my mother came to visit from Africa, she could tel … | Continue reading
“This is the first time I’ve travelled alone. My friend told me that you learn a lot about yourself when you travel alone. But so far, I find it the other way around. I feel like I learn more about myself when I have to relate to other people. Today I walked around Sydney. I … | Continue reading
“He was clean when I met him. He’d drink and use drugs a bit, but only when he partied. But he’s not strong like me. He tried heroin and he liked the feeling. And he couldn’t stop. It’s not that he’s a bad person. He has a soft heart. He smiles a lot. But he has a demon t … | Continue reading
“Both of us are very passionate about the environment. We actually met at the screening of a documentary about ocean pollution. Maybe we’ll get politically involved one day, but right now we’re just trying to live sustainable, happy lives without harming anything. We try to foc … | Continue reading
“The biggest insurance company in Australia collapsed in 2001, and there was a royal commission to find out the cause. At the time I was working as a journalist. I’d been getting the itch to write a book, so I decided that I’d become an expert on the subject. Kind of a weird t … | Continue reading
“Since there are only two million Assyrians left, there’s a feeling that we might not survive. So we lean on our rituals. We lean on our church. We lean on our language, which nobody else speaks. It’s a ‘we’ culture. Everything is about the group. And if you wander too far … | Continue reading
“I do lifesaving training every weekend. Sometimes we have races where we have to paddle out to buoys in the middle of the ocean. There was one really tough race a few weeks ago. The ocean was messy like today but the waves were even bigger. And there were lots of bluebottles … | Continue reading
“I come from a village. My life would have been nothing if I’d stayed home. I’d just wake up, cook for my siblings, and clean the house. I wanted to do more with my life, so I’m working in the city to save for my education. It’s been a lot lonelier than I expected. I’m so fa … | Continue reading
“I work on cargo ships. I’m usually at sea for nine months at a time, but sometimes it can go past a year. My last trip was 25 months. It’s tough out there. You’re so far from your family. It’s been easier since we got Internet last year. But before that you could only make … | Continue reading
“My boyfriend left as soon as I got pregnant. I was terrified to tell my father, but he discovered my pregnancy test hidden in a drawer. He didn’t speak to me for a few days. We’d always been close, so I knew something was up. Finally he asked me if I wanted to tell him somet … | Continue reading
“Soon after my father passed away, my mother got addicted to gambling. We began falling behind on the rent. I realized what was happening when I found a Casino Filipino membership card in her wallet. I tried confronting her, but she got furious. She told me I had no right to t … | Continue reading
“I’d always been very curious as a kid. I remember taking apart electronics and putting them back together, just to see if they’d still work. But I lost all that enthusiasm during my teenage years. My house became very dark, literally and figuratively. The lights were always … | Continue reading
“My father died on the day he got out of prison, so I never knew him. I was on my own as a child. I wasn’t able to go to school. I was hungry all the time. I’d wait all day by the marketplace until they threw out the rotten food. And if I couldn’t find any food, I’d steal it … | Continue reading