UPDATE (July 2018): The Waltons is now available on Prime! I just watched the first three episodes and they hold up remarkably well. Go figure! Where were you the evening of February 28, 1983? Chances are if you were alive and owned a television, you were watching the final episode of M*A*S*H along with 106 …
My new year is off to a bumpy start. First off, I have a nasty cold (working outdoors in sub-zero windchill can do that, apparently). I had a whole bunch of plans to greet 2018 just right… and, well, they didn’t happen. But it’s only two weeks in and I feel like I’m getting back …
It has been nearly a year since I last posted to this blog, and I would like to think I’ve just been too busy. That isn’t a lie. Since changing jobs earlier this year (in itself, a major stressor… the job I held for more than six years is now but a line item on …
I have spent the better part of this week, biting my tongue in an effort not to gloat. I wouldn’t be gloating about my candidate winning the U.S. Presidential election (he didn’t; my candidate lost in the primary to Hillary Clinton, who did get my vote on Tuesday, reluctantly given). No, my braggadocio was of …
Once upon a time, somebody must have told me that boys are easier to raise in their teen years than girls. Fairy tail inaugurations aside, I don’t believe I made this up. In fact, I think it was in reference to how horrible boy toddlers are; my relief—this vague and mysterious advisor claimed—would come in …
So, it’s Valentine’s Day, a made up day to commercialize love. It’s probably no one’s favorite day, although I do know a few people who very wisely chose February 14th as their wedding date, meaning they can truly celebrate their relationship on a day that seems to guilt us all: Either you’re supposed to show …
Thirty-two years ago today, the revolution began. It was on this day in 1984 that Apple launched the Macintosh computer. Let’s forget momentarily who stole from whom for the technology that brought us the icon and the mouse. I recently watched Steve Jobs, wherein Michael Fassbender does a disappearing act and fully transforms to embody …
There’s a superstition in Russian folklore that believes leap years are harbingers of death and bad luck. Well, I’m not a particularly superstitious person, but so far the year is not off to an auspicious start. At least not for those of us who are music or film/theater lovers. We lost two titans, and I’m …
I admit I love the new year. I loathe the holidays leading up to it, but there’s something psychologically empowering about January 1st. I wrote about this in my novel, being a “resolutionist.” Every year I set out to clear my mind of distraction and hunker down and accomplish something for a change. Sometimes I …
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of buzz—not to mention strategically placed Facebook ads—about Blue Apron, one of the biggest players competing to deliver “meals in a box” to time-strapped consumers who have time neither to shop nor to cook. While there are others competing in this emerging business model, Blue Apron recently received $200 …
This past Saturday, Madison Square Garden played host to an amazing line-up of bands celebrating the spirit—and, of course, the music—of John Lennon. The former Beatle was gunned down almost 35 years ago (tomorrow will mark that less-than-auspicious date), which made the timing of the birthday celebration (John would have turned 75 on October 9th) …
Maybe I’m glossing over the past, but I don’t remember it being so hard the first time around. “It” would be parenting a child though adolescence. In exactly 106 days I will—once again and to my mortification—have a teenager in the house. Only this time, the teenager has testicles. And a gaming problem (I’ll stop …
[If you want to read about the 30-day challenge from the beginning, click here.] Here I am, a few days out of my 30-day challenge. I wanted to sum up beyond the journal, because this was a very difficult and, ultimately, rewarding experience. While I fell short of my goal, which was to lose—in case …
[This post was originally published on Medium.com.] This story has been marinating for the past few days, ever since I watched last Friday’s Blue Bloods. Let me begin by saying I have always loved this show, especially for its verisimilitude: The story is about the Reagan family’s three generations of NYC cops, but it’s not …
I typically do not hop on a hot button issue in a kneejerk reactionary way. First off, I tend to let my ideas marinate, because truth be told, I am an angry, rageful bitch. If I reply to anyone or anything without taking things down a notch, invariably my intelligence and cunning intuition lead me …
So, against his express wishes, I am going to rebut the always funny Thrillist’s Dave Infante, who today came up with a lengthy diatribe against raising kids in New York City. Although Dave currently has no children, he makes some valid points that even some of my fellow parents have made regarding raising kids—especially boys, …
Oh, okay, so it’s been another month. Shoot me (although, considering my new digs, maybe I should refrain from ironic invitations). So, what’s been going on? We moved. In the middle of the school year. To a neighborhood unlike any I’ve ever lived in before (i.e. it’s in ungentrified Brooklyn). A long story that I …
There’s a horrible truth about the United States that far too few people want to contemplate. Despite all our wealth (and by that, I mean a collective GDP that breaks down to almost $50,000/person based on 2012 numbers), there are many people who are homeless in the USA. Because we don’t like to consider that …
I am going through transition number 412, and I feel once again as though I’m getting nowhere. I see the arc of my life and its current descent, and I wonder—often to the point of melancholic distraction—if I will ever achieve any of my goals, see any of my dreams realized. I try to remind …
NOTE: Contains mature content (sex/sexuality). I’m starting to feel like I’m doing a “post of the month” club here. While I’d like to say it’s a lack of inspiration that keeps me away, in fact, it’s my attempting to monetize other areas of my life. I have great difficulty balancing the need to make money …
Can somebody please give Jo Rowling a hug? Like, STAT! It’s become apparent to me that this amazingly talented and prodigious author may be in need of an intervention. First, there was the news that Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them was being turned into a film. Then came the news that there would …
Wow! Where has the time gone? My blog is like my son’s bearded dragon: sorely neglected (more on that in a moment)! I won’t bore you with the minutia of my life these past couple of months. There’s been a lot on my plate, but that’s pretty much par for my course. However, I did …
If you’ve read this blog for awhile, you already know that I am not the smartest person in my family. While that’s not great admission, it pains me to confess that I also am not the wisest person in my family. Especially when it comes to self-worth issues. I don’t love me very much. Whereas …
It’s almost Halloween, so I thought I’d do something really scary… like put up a blog post! No, seriously. When it comes to scary, nothing really can compare to cyber threats. I’ve seen plenty of sci-fi movies, and we all know that the end will come when the computers become self-aware. Until then, we simply …
I have a bone to pick with those who would defund public education, but the worst offenders are those who would do so in order to profit on the taxpayers’ backs via so-called “school choice.” I speak today of the Charter School, one of the worst developments to hit early childhood education since this country …
Although I previously claimed I would be my beer writing away from this particular blog, I wanted to drop by and discuss writers’ conferences. In the past year I have attended three conferences, and I’ve realized that in many ways they are very much alike. So, should you attend a writers’ conference? What should you …
I loathe compartmentalization. While I get its usefulness in the fight-or-flight evolution of our species, it doesn’t really fit into our 21st Century world. And while this discussion could be referencing anything from Florida juries to Texas Republicans, in fact, I want to consider the blogosphere. Pretty much the rule of thumb is, if you …
This month’s book is one that is close to me personally on a couple of levels. Admission is the story of a Princeton Admissions officer who hits a midlife crisis (as many women in their 40s do, when we wake up and realize that all we hoped to achieve actually wasn’t promised to us). It …
By the time my grandmother was my age, she had no teeth. I mean, I’m guessing. I remember the horrors of being a child in my grandparents’ home in western Illinois. They were, so, well, old! They kept their teeth in these weird containers, like a snow globe you dare not shake. In fact, I …
With great power comes great responsibility. —Voltaire, by way of Stan Lee As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I spent much of the weekend locked away at the NYC Sheraton for the Writer’s Digest Conference East. There was a steady blend of pro-traditional publishing mixed with self-publishing advice. Interestingly, what I felt to …
Long blog post warning (hey, it’s been a week, so pour a cup of coffee and let’s catch up!). This past weekend, I went to my very first writers’ conference, Writer’s Digest Conference East (note: I don’t know how long the link will point to the conference, as it has already happened, so I apologize … Continue reading
Did you hear the one about “building a wall”? No, not that wall. I mean the idea that one’s very own success comes with a lot of self-constructed boundaries. Yeah, I’ve never been very good at that. Setting my own boundaries. I could go down the laundry list of all the things that have been … Continue reading
This is a tale of two girls who had dreams of growing up to be professional actors. It’s also a blog post that was requested by BizParentz, one of the few (and probably the best) resources out there for kids in the entertainment business that tells it like it is; you’ll get real information on … Continue reading
UPDATE: While I’m pleasantly surprised that Spotlight won for best picture, it’s a Pyrrhic victory since Iñárritu won Best Director. Also happy to have been wrong about Rylance’s win. From earlier… I’m gonna go out on a limb and state what isn’t at all risky: The Revenant will win Best Picture at tonight’s 88th annual Academy … Continue reading
Not to dribble on your dreams or anything… It’s pilot season, that crazy time of year when hundreds of actors go out for dozens of parts while thousands of hopeful wanna-bes let their fantasies get in the way of their finances. I’m here with the official, “Whoa! There, Bessie,” because the truth is a lot … Continue reading
Last night was the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which brings together the best (most popular?) of television and film as decreed by actors in the business. My daughter cast her votes on Friday, so that ballot was fresh in my mind when I watched the show a day later. From the minute the show … Continue reading
With apologies to Warren Zevon… I wish I could say it came by surprise, but the past few months have been a precursor to the inevitable: My second child is now a teenager. Because of the large age gap between my two kids, I have had a teen-free home for a couple of years now. … Continue reading
Astrid Cook - The Right Writer 