I can’t make up my mind about whether unhappiness is a fundamentally lonely or social experience. On the one hand, it’s the most collective of all human emotions, the one true commonality. No matter who we are, how we grew up, or where we live on the planet, we’re all susceptible to the same fears, […]

We tend to do things for reasons. We need to pay the bills, so we go to work. We need sustenance, so we hit Dunkin Donuts in the morning. We want to keep our jobs, so we sneak in up the freight elevator and through the back hall when we’re running late.
In fact, when […]

I’m great at developing relationships in my life. Most of them are meaningful, involved, and require a lot of time and effort. Granted, they aren’t all with actual human beings, but that’s somewhat beside the point.
Take Cat, for example. We have a complex and dynamic bond, mostly consisting of her making her needs known […]

There’s something deeply flawed about Valentine’s Day. It’s surprising, given that we’re talking about an entire holiday devoted to having fun with someone you find attractive, consuming decadent food and alcohol, exchanging cards, gifts, and statements of devotion, and, in all likelihood, getting laid. From that perspective, the idea that a ritual like this could […]

New Yorkers aren’t the happiest bunch. For any number of reasons (working too much, subsisting on mercury-laden tuna, living in $3,000-a-month concrete boxes surrounded by two thousand other concrete boxes at even more laughable prices) those who chose to live here don’t tend to be the happy-go-lucky type.
In a way, it’s a matter of […]

I’m not smart every day. Or even 85% of days. I’d lay the odds at around 5/6ths. Maybe that’s being generous.
I’ve learned to accept this, after countless mornings spent poring through WebMD to see if there’s some way my brain cells could have evaporated overnight. Writers love to flounder in self-created dramas about “the […]

People hate Christmas. They really do. When I was a child (a time period that includes the majority of my life so far, including the odd day or two in the present), I would listen to adults talk about how much they loathed the holidays, how the whole business was one earth-shattering headache, and all […]

If you’re looking for something a bit more titillating than the usual fare (e.g. law, back problems, excessive sugar consumption) check out an article I wrote for this week’s Page Six magazine. It’s about New York women who practice polyamory (no, it’s not an exotic new kind of yoga). I doubt I’ll ever delve into […]

Thanks to all who have written in with various back diagnoses, advice, home remedies, and horror stories. Yes, I have managed to remove myself from the bathroom floor; yes, I do plan to try acupuncture; and no, I have never wrestled professionally or carried an armoire that I found on the street up four flights […]

I’m convinced that the universe has its own instincts — it senses when we’re approaching a collective overload on one notion or sentiment, and acts to push us the other way; on an individual level, it can keep you aligned with the nebulous greater balance, assuming you’re paying close enough attention. And then, every once […]