Top Five Worst New Year's
December 31, 2001

Top Five Worst New Year's Eves 5. Senior year of high school. Much-anticipated hotel party goes bust, leaving me with a drunk boyfriend and a bathtub full of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. 4. How strange. I thought I had a... more

Wishing You a Very, Very
December 27, 2001

I didn't want to write some lame "Merry Christmas" posting, but I'm sick. Sick and grumpy. Sniff-sniff. Cough-cough. So at some other time, I'll bitch and moan about how much my parents misunderstand me, or the cost of chocolate-covered pretzels,... more

Not Always Good at This Job
December 21, 2001

Fat Cheeks has bronchiolitis. "It's the worst thing for a premie to get," the woman who runs the foster home tells us at the terrifically boring staff meeting. "Most of them don't survive it." I don't know what bronchiolitis is,... more

A Reminder
December 18, 2001

Stop idealizing the past. Stop fantasizing about the future. Stop creating narratives in which everything is the same except this time, you actually win or look better or sound smarter or at the very least, are 10 pounds lighter. Change... more

Introducing Fat Cheeks
December 17, 2001

There are 10 children at the foster home where I work. By law, I am not allowed to tell you any of their real names, but occasionally, when the mood hits, I want to introduce you to them. I know... more

The Lord of the Short People
December 13, 2001

I saw "Lord of the Rings" this morning. And I'm sure you're going to hear like a gazillion things about it, more than you need to really, so all I will say is this: Short people rule! Short people are... more

Rocking the Suburbs
December 11, 2001

I have been a bit down lately. All my friends tell me it's a normal thing. The post-travel baddies. The reality-check blues. What happened? My first few days back I was like a bad-ass rock-star divachick who could kick this... more

Unto Cesar
December 10, 2001

I started seeing Cesar the last week I was in Vilcabamba. It was sort of a secret. It was a secret because Cesar worked at the lodge, and things seemed simpler that way. Cesar was everyone's friend, the kind of... more

Dear Sarahhepola.com
December 08, 2001

"Dear Sarahhepola.com, Don't get me wrong -- I like your little stories and whatnot. It's just that recently, you've been a little, umm, cryptic. Let me be frank, Sarahhepola.com. Half the time, I don't know what you are talking about.... more

Adjusting, With Cigarettes
December 05, 2001

"How was Ecuador?" you ask me. "It was good," I say. You want more, I can tell. But I'm stuck. I'm cranky and slightly depressed and still mourning the loss of travel and foreign places and the days when... more

The New Job, the New Plan
December 04, 2001

So I take the job. The story of why I take the job is long and probably boring and involves too many cigarettes and conversations like this: Me: I just don't know. I don't know, I don't know, I don't... more