Writing

On Understanding My Jewish Roots

While growing up, we didn’t discuss being Jewish. We practiced no religious rituals, and no family member went to temple. A Yiddish swear word or phrase of exasperation often spilled from my grandma’s lips, something she picked up in her youth, or an occasional Jewish dish was prepared for family gatherings, but that was about as tribal as we got.

Our lack of Jewish cultural identity was not decided for us. It was chosen by my Eastern European great-grandmother Sophie, who upon coming to America erased any trace of Jewish identity. As I’ve aged and attempted to connect with my Ashkenazi roots, I’ve had to check my frustration with this woman I had never met. Why did you erase your past? I often ask out loud to her. And why did you decide that your kin would never know the truth?

These questions I’ve searched for in public records, DNA results and photos and documents hidden in my grandmother’s house to little avail. What facts I have been able to dig up often conflict with one another — Was (more…)

January 27, 2018 by
Pop Culture

Why I’ll Never Share My #MeToo Story

During the height of the #MeToo movement, I came really close to sharing a story that could have potentially changed my life in ways I wasn’t ready for.

I had been contacted by the media, and I had two drafts of my story sitting on my laptop. Between the calls and the daily stories of Hollywood men being taken down, my anxiety was through the roof.

While I was and still am overjoyed to see this day of reckoning upon us, and to see all the brave women and men coming forward with their distressing #MeToo stories, long lost feelings of smallness from a time I had chosen to forget came rushing back.

#MeToo was forcing me to think about something I had purposely left in the past.

In the months after the New York Times outed Harvey Weinstein as a sexual predator, I’d wake up each morning with a pit in my stomach, thinking about my own Hollywood sexual misconduct story and if I needed to say something. Every day my finger hovered over the publish button — I didn’t want to share my story with (more…)

January 14, 2018 by
Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture, Thirty-something

Why More Millennials Should Invest in Cryptocurrency

First, let me get this out of the way: I’m not a financial advisor. I’m just a gal who started investing in cryptocurrency and has learned a thing or two.

In early 2017, when cryptocurrency began taking off, I decided to take the plunge. I got in when the values were already somewhat high but before they got redonkulously high.

Because of my investment early on, I’ve made a nice profit in six months that I’m really proud of.

Why am I proud?

Because I am not a money person.

It was only a couple years ago that I was able to start saving for my retirement. However, I don’t know squat about stocks and I have no large assets besides two X-files Barbie dolls and more pillows than any human could possibly need.

When I decided to start investing in cryptocurrency I told myself three things:
1.) Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose 
2.) Understand that the bubble could burst tomorrow 
3.) Don’t get all weird and sell your two X-files Barbie dolls and blankets to (more…)

January 4, 2018 by
Travel

Don’t ever do this, she told me.

Howdy, friends.

I’m going to start writing here again, so here’s my first real post in awhile.

It’s a short piece & it’s about a woman I met on the train from Denver to Chicago.

———

She is tiny, bundled in a faux-leopard print coat, and she is carrying her weight in baggage.

“Can I help you carry anything?” I ask as I step off the train to join her on the platform of Chicago’s Union Station.

A face etched with the lines of a woman who has lived with all of her heart peeks out from under a severe blond bob and black beret. “Oh sure. Here, carry this–“

It’s a guitar case, flimsy with belongings other than what the case was intended for.

“I don’t have a guitar in there. I left it behind in Memphis because I wasn’t sure it was going to work out in Denver.”

She pauses and then turns to me, “Please don’t ever move across the country to live with a man you’ve only known for three months, okay?”

December 18, 2017 by
Writing

A Message to Apologists From a Survivor

Hello.

I know the daily news about another man in power being accused of sexual harassment or assault is overwhelming and disorienting.

This is new territory for all us.

I’ve watched some of my own favorite celebrities fall over the past few weeks.

It’s a confusing and weird time.

Sometimes your first thought might be “Why didn’t the victim say anything back then?” or “She/he is jumping on the bandwagon” or “Oh, get over it. It happened 20+ years ago!”

It’s normal to question what is laid in front of you, but I’m writing to you in hopes of shedding those questions and replacing them with understanding, empathy and anger.

As a person who was on the receiving end of deeply humiliating and dehumanizing sexual encounter in Hollywood, I want to add my perspective on some of the questions you may have.

Why didn’t the victim say anything back then?

There are a plethora of reasons why a victim may not come forward at the time:

  • Fear of assaulter using their power to kill (more…)
December 6, 2017 by
Austin, Pop Culture

How to Help People Affected by Harvey: An Updated List

I’m currently hundreds of miles away from my adopted home state of Texas. It feels weird. I feel helpless. However, I also know there is not much I can do right now other than donate money.

You might be feeling the same way too–helpless. And you may be wondering the best way to donate your time or money to those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

Since there are so many links being shared around on social media, I decided to compile a list. I’ll be updating throughout the coming days.

P.S. You may be itching to donate your physical being now, like I am, but this will be a long recovery. Remember: Our services will be needed weeks or months down the road when the threat has passed. 

9/5/17:

-Mayor Adler has updated the list of needs for evacuees which includes toys for kiddos. Read about it here.

–Houston Food Bank is accepting volunteers for the next weeks and months.

–Habitat for Humanity Houston has volunteer opportunities available over the next few months.

–Sign (more…)

August 28, 2017 by
Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture

35 Ways to Find Happiness From Someone Totally Unqualified

Follow these easy tips and you’ll have your shit together in no time.

I’m not an expert on anything, except for maybe naps (they’re really, really good for you), but because I’m a Writer on Medium, I’m actually an expert on everything and today I’m going to share with you 35 foolproof ways to find happiness.

  1. Stop being depressed, first and foremost.
  2. Stop dating bartenders.
  3. If you are a bartender, stop being one.
  4. Stop buying recycled toilet paper. (This is more so to make your butt happy.)
  5. Stop looking at your phone all of the time.
  6. Stop perusing the Internet all of the time.
  7. Stop comparing yourself to others.
  8. JUST.
  9. STOP.
  10. DOING THINGS.
  11. OK?
  12. Take a nap.
  13. Polish off a bottle of red and take a five-hour nap.
  14. Polish off a bottle of red and put Purple Rain on the record player.
  15. Wait, don’t. When you realize you can’t dance or sing like Prince, you’ll fall into deep funk. (Trust me.)
  16. Those $45 crystals aren’t going to work. Buy the $5 crystals. (more…)
August 27, 2017 by
Hipstercrite Life, Writing

Should We Punch Nazis?

Let me start off by getting this out of the way:

  1. I’m a liberal, an activist and a pacifist
  2. I’m also Jewish
  3. However, I admit that I don’t know the correct answer to “Should we punch neo-Nazis?”
  4. Therefore, this essay will have more questions than answers
  5. And it’s not about the ethics of punching a neo-Nazi, or if a neo-Nazi deserves to be punched or not (they do), but rather a study on whether or not punching them is the best method to bring about positive change
  6. P.S. I hate neo-Nazis

Inlight of the events in Charlottesville, I’ve seen a large uptick in support of punching neo-Nazis.

This support is coming from thoughtful, intelligent thinkers I respect on the left and it’s got me questioning whether or not we’ve arrived at violence being the only way to achieve peace.

But as a pacifist, writing the above sentence makes me cringe; it feels like the ultimate oxymoron.

How can violence be the answer to peace?

We hold up our non-violent leaders — Martin (more…)

August 16, 2017 by
Hipstercrite Life

Please Remember: Love Will Outnumber Hate

Words have escaped me lately.

This is, in part, due to the rapid fire of unfortunate, heartbreaking, terrifying events that have plagued America recently. Like many others, my brain is in a frenzied state and is having difficulty keeping up; every day is a fight not to go down a path of self-preservation numbness to what is going on. I know that inaction is not the answer, but damn, some days it just feels so unbearably hopeless.

The other reason words have trickled out of my brain, through my ears and down to the ground is because I’m tired of being told how I’m supposed to think and feel by the online masses in times of turmoil. As a writer on the web, I do not want to pretend I’m an expert on individual emotional reaction to catastrophe; I will not tell you how you’re supposed to act right now.

But with that being said, there is one thing I want to share in hopes of providing comfort, and as a reader, please feel free to take it or leave it.

During these times when I feel (more…)

August 14, 2017 by
Austin, Hipstercrite Life

I Will Trim Your Trees at Night

 

Once in awhile, when darkness falls, I will sling my trusty hedge trimmers over my shoulder and march up and down my street looking for neighbors whose brush encroaches on the sidewalk. I will snip, snip, snip as fast as I can and scurry off to the next offender.

Before you think I’m that one weird-ass neighbor every has, let me explain.

A handful of my neighbors do not regard their lawn as something that deserves care or maintenance. Fine and dandy. It’s their property to do what they see fit. However, when their overgrowth overtakes the sidewalk, it’s a slap in the face of all neighbors. When elderly people and children are forced to walk in the street, it’s downright villainous. VILLAINOUS, I SAY!

But day after day, no neighbor comes forward to speak to the offenders and the growth continues to expand.

Except for me.

I’m coming forward, mother f’ers.

I realized that in order to take care of business, there were a couple avenues I could pursue:
1.) I knock (more…)

July 24, 2017 by