Modern Love: The People On The Bus Say 'Shame On You' (The New York Times, Sep. 2007

Toddlers On A Plane (Babble, Sep. 2007

How to Write About Friends and Family So They'll Still Speak to You (Media Bistro, March 2007

Ever After: The Eye Of The Beholder (Destination Weddings and Honeymoons, Summer 2006)

OTHER WRITING

Worse Than Sneakers
Until recently I did not own a pair of sneakers. I don’t mean running shoes, the kind of bright white shoes with three inches of foam cushion that you wear to the gym. I mean hipster sneakers. Those things that are sort of a cross between grownup shoes and athletic wear, typically involving Velcro and fake laces or no laces at all. Or ironic sneakers – you know, those shoes that are a throwback to the seventies like Top Siders or Keds or retro Adidas – I didn’t own any of those either.

Hello My Name Is…
“So,” said Steven’s father. “Are you planning on becoming a Shaklan?” I shot Steven a look across the table. He responded by shoving a forkful of General Tso’s Chicken into his mouth. “It’s not really clear yet,” I said.

Homecoming
The Connecticut college town where I grew up was a transient one. Graduate students and professors came and went; everyone was from somewhere else. Even so, my family was especially mobile. Every few years we left the country for a semester or two while my father was on sabbatical. I would be pulled out of school and removed to an exotic locale – Switzerland, Paris, assorted Caribbean islands – and then deposited back at my Connecticut school full of stories about French fashion and flying fish that interested no one.

Revelations
The drive from Pakse to the island of Don Khong was more like a mobile buffet than a bus ride. Every fifteen minutes the ancient bus would squeal to a halt, and we would hear the sound of plastic flip flops slapping the pavement, followed by yelling in Lao as women and young girls thrust various food items up by the windows.

Backpacker Lullaby
Khao San Road is a Grateful Dead show without the music. Slow-eyed people are gliding their way up the street in flowing linen clothing. A blonde woman is sitting in the street having her hair dredlocked.