The Love Chronicles

OK, y'all...so I know this is cheating to post something from another website, but I read this entry from Refinery 29 about life in your twenties and thirties and thought it was somehow appropriate and applicable to my life and the lives of many of my readers. Even though it's the thoughts of 8 women, some of the things they say are spot on, so guys, listen up!  The overall gist is when you're in your twenties, you should be wild, have fun, try new things, really put yourself out there.  Don't go completely bat shit crazy, but live a little! This is the perfect time to figure out who you are.  Then in your thirties (or if you're lucky, even a little sooner) you can start laying down the groundwork for your future. I can finally say I've learned my lesson(s).  I've been wild, spent money with reckless abandon, drank too much, made rash decisions and now I'm ready.  Ready to do what it takes to make a nice life for myself.  I hope everyone has that momen...

Oh, the irony, my darling readers, of those chance meetings when you are least prepared. Let me tell you a story... Due to the lovely and very early arrival of winter in Chicago - snow! wind! below freezing temperatures! parkas! - I decided to stay the night at my mother's house who I had been visiting because biking home in such weather seemed rather imprudent. In the morning my mother mercifully offered me a ride to the Western bus stop, making my commute home much shorter and fulfilling her duty as a good mother quite nicely. It was early, but there were a few people waiting at the corner of Western and Roscoe, all dressed appropriately for the weather, except for your humble author. Let me describe what I was wearing: A navy University of Illinois hooded sweatshirt (it has the word "Illinois" emblazoned across it in bold orange lettering), dark blue leggings, brown mid-calf boots, teal green gloves, bags under my eyes the size of former Soviet Satellite States. By...

My dearest readers, there are many difficult questions we are forced to answer throughout the course of our lives. Am I challenging myself enough? Should I look for a new job? Am I really happy in my current living situation? Does this make my ass look big? I never thought I would have to answer such a question regarding blocking someone on my phone. But let me offer you one piece of advice: if you ever even have to ask yourself the question "Should I block this person or not?", then chances are, you probably should. I've never had to do this until recently, but I must say, it feels empowering. Not only are you, as the blocker, robbing the blockee the pleasure of being able to communicate with you via text or phone call, you are also causing the blockee lots of grief. Hopefully they are sweating bullets and up at night in complete agony because ALL of their calls go to voicemail and ALL of their texts go unanswered. The best part about this is, you will never know if th...