Life & Style

TGIF

In the winter of 1994, the TGIF lineup on ABC was this: 8:00 PM – Family Matters 8:30 PM – Boy Meets World 9:00 PM – Step by Step 9:30 PM – Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper (which changed to Sister Sister by Spring) In the winter of 1994, I was seven and like the rest […]

The Sanctity of Birth

After years of anticipation for some, just nine months for others, birth is the single most important event of every human being’s life. Regardless of how much this event has been denigrated to a medical procedure, it is a special day – every single year, most of us observe the occasion and are aware that […]

Paid and Locked Out

On a cold February morning in 2010, I found myself at a tall office building near 50th St. and 3rd Avenue in New York City. I’d been there before, in a dream possibly. The main lobby had rows and rows of elevators with different destinations. I entered one. It was gold-plated and warmer than the […]

I Can’t Find New York

by Tom Bair I can’t find New York. I’ve looked everywhere. It’s okay though. I’m not too worried. I lose things all the time, and so . . . so I’ve picked up many methods of recovery along the way. Retracing my steps, cleaning, doing something else, pacing furiously, crying, etc. Or I’ll check the […]

Teeth

by Frannie M. In a dream last night my teeth were a mess. It fell into a few categories of “Teeth” dreams in 10,000 Dreams Interpreted (ed. Miller). The dream had loose teeth in it; that means “there will be failures and gloomy tidings.” The dream had my teeth falling out in it; that means […]

For the Doulas

by Carmen Mojica The job as a keeper and guardian of the birth space is extremely important. I know it has been very hard for me to feel like my presence matters or is even valuable in the delivery room. I began reading Birthing From Within after my second birth, in which I felt like […]

Sardines

by Tracy Soren If I was a hype man and my latest project was to hype you up for this post, I would say: “If you’ve ever been on the corner of 34th and 7th at 5PM on a Thursday, just trying to make your train back to Ronkonkoma, this one’s for you! If you’ve […]

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Dealing with difference: ecology, material culture, and cross-cultural comparison.

by Zev Gottdeiner Often, we think about cultural difference as having to do with the apparent. We focus on surface assumptions like language, geography, phenomenology, or metaphysics. This distinction frames how we view difference. That this mode of belonging to something whose borders we have come to accept operates on every aspect of our lives […]

Suit Up

by Tracy Soren For my second temp job, I wore a tuxedo. I received a call from my agency asking if I was available for a four-day job at The Knot’s Wedding Expo. The Knot, a wedding planning site and magazine, was running their bi-annual expo at a fancy hotel and needed a slew of […]