lisamcc

I met Caroline several years ago, and she scared the shit out of me. This happens every now and again. I meet another woman in recovery and I get TERRIFYING vibes off her. And I’ve learned, in the 9+ years I’ve been sober, that those vibes mean “this is someone I am supposed to know.” Caroline had a magnificent “faux hawk,” great shoes, and a scowl. On paper, Caroline had it all: she grew up in the right neighborhood, went to the right boarding school, graduated from an Ivy League college... Read Full Story

Why Put A Bumper Sticker on a Ferrari? I was referred to the above article by an old friend of mine.  Curious, I clicked through to read it, and it took my breath away.  But not in a good way. I imagine that Lisa Khoury is dealing with a veritable maelstrom of responses in her email box today, and in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s just stopped checking her email altogether at this point.  So I’ll say what I need to say here. There is a part of me that wants to cut this... Read Full Story

Today, February 1st, is my Daddum’s birthday.  Everyone say, “Happy Birthday, Daddums!”  I know he reads this site; he often makes references to my “epistles.” In honor of this stupendous occasion, I figured I would share with you all some of the words of wisdom he has imparted upon me and my siblings (and if I’ve forgotten any, I’m certain they will remind me). It goes a long way towards explaining why we’re “that way.” “Oh, look, kids – a cemetery!  Did you know nobody living in this... Read Full Story

Yesterday’s Internet Kerfuffle involved Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, and the announcement that he was opting out of an invitation to the White House, while the rest of his team went.  In a brief statement, Thomas explained that he did so because of dissatisfaction with the federal government. To his credit, there was minimal soapboxing on his part, and he was “diplomatic” enough to place blame on both parties for said dissatisfaction with the government.  No, the real grandstanding came from... Read Full Story

On Saturday mornings, I have to walk by there.  The house on Brookside Avenue. The guy who lives there now keeps all the blinds down.  He doesn’t know me, doesn’t know my penchant for looking into the windows of places I pass, seeking clues as to how others live.  He can’t know that I walk by here on Saturdays hoping he’ll offer a bookshelf, or a standing lamp. Brookside Avenue was our “get well” apartment.  We’d been struggling with each other and the place in which we lived.  After ten... Read Full Story

Dear young woman in the pink parka at the Prudential Mall: You approached us tonight as we were heading to the subway station.  The shelters are full, you’re trying to get 28 dollars together to go stay in the hostel on Hemenway.  I’ve heard your story before. Tonight, though.  Tonight it was eleven degrees outside.  Tonight you made eye contact with us, and told us, “I’m just trying to be honest, here.”  In your pink parka and blue eyeshadow, I could see it in your eyes.  You were... Read Full Story

Oh.  Oh, God. I just finished reading Why We Broke Up .  I bought it yesterday.  Yesterday, I bought this, and I finished it about a half hour ago.  I finished it at my kitchen table, sobbing, as Min, the teenage narrator, went through a devastating litany of everything’s she’s NOT. I’m not a goth or a cheerleader, I’m not treasurer or co-captain…I’m not anything…I have bad hair and stupid eyes.  I have a body that’s nothing.  I’m too fat and I’m idiotic ugly.  My clothes are a joke, my... Read Full Story

2011 is over and done, but I didn’t want to sweep it under the carpet without adding my own 2011 List of Something-Or-Other, pop-culture wise. I think this is the first full year I’ve managed to stay on Twitter without pulling the plug.  I’ve kept a pretty healthy distance from the drama queens, spambots, and attention whores…keeping more or less to the promise I made to myself to stick to publishing houses, authors, and other writerly concerns.  But who am I kidding, really?  The real... Read Full Story

I am spending the last few hours of 2011 on the couch, watching The Walking Dead marathon on AMC.  I am also, not surprisingly, sick with another one of the ghastly colds I seem to get when it’s LEAST convenient.  The zombies are spewing things, I’m spewing things, but basically I’m okay with it all.  In my considerable experience with this “holiday,” being sick on the couch while watching people behaving badly in a zombie apocalypse is a howling success for me.  I’ve spent way too many... Read Full Story

I just FORCED myself to finish Let’s Spend The Night Together . I tend to do that with books I’m not enjoying; my sister is the same way. We’re gonna get through it if it kills us, just for the perverse satisfaction of saying we read an entire book that sucked real hard. ANYWAY. If you didn’t bother to click through to find out what it is, it’s a paean to the groupie, a collection of sordid stories and interviews conducted by the self-proclaimed Groupie Guru herself, Pamela Des Barres. I... Read Full Story