Not long ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile. We’re not close, but we like each other a lot and every time we run into each other, we can’t stop talking. She recently went through a very contentious divorce. She has children and the… Read full post »

My baby son and me, 2003  

My mother was a complicated person in life and in death. She died when I was nineteen, after a long battle with breast cancer. Actually, calling her struggle a “battle” isn’t entirely accurate because she never once saw a doctor.&nb… Read full post »

Today, A missing bus bench on busy La Cienega Blvd. (Photo: iphone with Instagram) 

Somebody is removing Los Angeles bus benches and residents are angry. Well, some residents are mad. Mainly those people who ride the buses and want to sit down with their groceries, their kids or… Read full post »

For weeks, my husband and I have been trying to get together with family friends at their request. It’s something we’ve done many times over the years with our two families, until recently. What’s changed? Their three kids’ activities have become so tightly booked they don&rsq… Read full post »

(Image: Dragonartz.net) 

An article in the New York Times Wednesday reports that a new, highly accurate non-invasive blood test can determine a baby’s sex as early as seven weeks into a woman’s pregnancy. The test uses fetal DNA in the mother’s blood to uncover t… Read full post »

Goggles: Strangers Stop To Speak To Her 

The other day my 11 year-old daughter told me she thinks I’m friendly and outgoing. I was secretly thrilled. Those aren’t two adjectives I’d use to describe myself, but I’ll gladly embrace them, especially coming fro… Read full post »

Mayim Bialik (photo Khurak.net)

When I asked the question, “Are Celebrity Moms Too Perfect?” on my Los Angeles private schools blog, it was a reasonable question based on recent—and very controversial-- statements made by two celebrity moms made about parenting.… Read full post »

My home office. There's nothing corporate about it.  

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I quit my job. Not in the usual, professional, two-weeks notice method preferred by corporations. No, I walked off the job. A six-figure, corporate job. I slammed the door behind me. Liter… Read full post »

Me and my step-mom, Anne, at my son's football game 

I never expected to call anyone my step-mom. To have a step-mom means your dad got divorced and he remarried or his wife died. In my case, it was the latter. My mom died when I was nineteen, meaning… Read full post »

(The Willows Community School Garden/photo: The Willows School) 

An Urban Private School

The garden at The Willows Community School, an urban school in an industrial area of Culver City, CA, sits on the corner of the main yard. When my daughter started kindergarten, I quickly rea… Read full post »

(Image courtesy of Dish Networks/Bing Images) 

Today, Oprah Winfrey announced she will take over as CEO of the failing Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), according to The Wall Street Journal and Forbes.com. This is in addition to her current title of chairman. In May, Oprah Winfrey ende… Read full post »

(Photo: Popwatch)

On July 15-17, L.A .will experience an event that could bring the city to a standstill: the two day closure of a portion of the 405 Freeway that connects the San Fernando Valley to the Westside of L.A. The freeway closure is necessary in order to remove half… Read full post »

(Photo courtesy of clker.com clip art/Bing) 

My daughter is 10 years old and just completed 4^th grade at a progressive, private school in Los Angeles.  Lately, I’ve been astounded to see how many of her classmates have their own Facebook pages. 

My first encounter with k… Read full post »

I’m American through and through. Not like the apple pie kind of American but, there are certain things about me that brand me as an American. They aren’t good or bad, they just are. I only speak one language, English. I was a workaholic when I had a corporate job. I… Read full post »

The hottest parenting article of the moment, “How To Land Your Kid In Therapy”, is in the July-August issue of The Atlantic Monthly, written by therapist and mother, Lori Gottlieb. The article, which has set the mommy blogs abuzz, and is sold out on newsstands, suggests that the current c… Read full post »

Venice Of America is a book of photographs by Sweet William, a photographer and my family's neighbor when we lived on Thornton Avenue in Venice, California.  Although I was unaware of it at the time, his book documented the memories of my bohemian childhood. 

Thornton Ave.… Read full post »

Imagine if you will, something so terrifying the precise details refuse to leave your mind, even 27 years later.

My mom died when I was 19. She fought a ten-year battle with breast cancer, refusing to ever see a doctor, dying at home. A hippie, vegan,… Read full post »

The New York Times is running a series, “Race Remixed: A New Sense Of Identity” about the growing number of mixed-race Americans. It’s great to see news coverage of America’s racial barriers being shattered, as evidenced by the growing number of mixed-race people. My parents w… Read full post »