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French and Japanese Brain Scramble
There are words and phrases that I find myself uttering to myself in French when I'm walking down the street. I love the sounds of these words, no matter the meaning. A satisfying...
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Cecil Beaton: The New York Years
Tuesday marked the last day of my Fall semester classes, and to change it up my fashion students and I went to see the "Cecil Beaton: The New York Years" show at the Museum of the City of New York....
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On Top of the Empire State
For years, I've found reasons why it's not a good time to take Jamie on top of the Empire State Building. It's too crowded; too expensive; we might run into King Kong; who knows? But last weekend, the...
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An Everlasting Meal
There's one book that's stood out to me in reviews this month, and after reading an excerpt I purchased a few copies to hand out to various extended family members who I still exchange with: An...
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Shanti Ananda
This morning I looked for the faded scar between two fingers on my left hand, and was troubled to not be able to see it. If I pull the skin on the back of my hand tautly, I can at least imagine that...
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We meet de Kooning
The abstract de Kooning that knocked him to his kneesYesterday we hopped on the F train to hit MOMA for an hour or so before the Willem de Kooning retrospective leaves town in a few days. While I was...
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She Writes
A few weeks ago I was prompted to join She Writes by my friend and colleague Kathleen Sweeney. She Writes is a huge online community of (you guessed it) women who write everything from novels to poetry...
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Downton Rodent Abbey
We caved at Christmas and got Jamie a pet. Actually, we got him three pets, the Flying Roborovski Sisters. They are Masha (with the spot on her eye), Irena (with the more jagged lines on her back), and...
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Here Come The Bullies.
This didn't take long. I look at my Mom clock, and it says "Third grade." I consider the old adage "Boys will be boys", and think about how rough play has crossed ever so quietly into bullying...
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Dusting Off Poetry
A few months ago I joined the writing community She Writes. Truth be told, navigating another social media site isn't something that I long to extract out of each day, but the pull of the talent,...
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Emily Dickinson Comes to New York
The Emily Dickinson exhibit at the Poet's House in Battery Park has been extended from January 28th to February 18th. I now have a chance to get there before it leaves. I read a lot of Emily Dickinson...
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Bye, Bye Jan Berenstain, Soother of Souls
In the wake of Jan Berenstain's death, I remember how her rollicking bear family ushered me through some tricky parenting moments. I was lucky enough to have a treasure trove of Berenstain Bears books...
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The Last Decade or So
I slipped in a quick cup of coffee with my friend Mark yesterday in between dropping off Jamie to his cartooning class, and my karate class. Just saying that gives me pause and makes me grateful of the...
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Some are Silver, Some are Gold
Amy would find this funny.Having an old friend in town for a week was a balm I needed more desperately than I thought possible. Amy Weaver and I go back nearly 20 years [wait for cliche]. How did that...
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Saying Goodbye to Spring 12 Semester
Last night I took my French final, which officially marked the end of my Spring semester. My classes ended last week (Fashion Publishing and Freelance Features), but now I feel like I'm truly done for...
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Everything Old is New Again
Gone, but not forgotten.Yesterday I chaperoned a bunch of 9 year olds to Coney Island for an end of the school year romp. I've always loved Coney, but finding the words to describe the decrepit beauty...
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Closer than Ever, York Theater
My first piece (here) on Huffington Post's Culture channel is a slightly edited version of the following:I'm not as much of a theater-goer as I'd like to think I am, but when I do make it there, I'm a...
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Bye, Bye, Nora
Beautiful, inside and out.What follows is a version of my latest Huffington Post blog entry, which can be found in its entirety [here]. Last night my kid and I rented The Grey, a film I wasn’t sure...
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Catch Up
I've been busy writing. Plus, Underwood is a family name, and so I'm very fond of old Underwood typewriters.In many ways, I've used this blog as a repository for clips and works in progress....
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Chess in the Park
A month or so back, a piece I wrote about going to the chess circle in Washington Square was picked up by the New York Observer (which thrilled me). It was a lesson in patience to work with an editor...
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Guest Post by Jamie
I just reread this poem that J. wrote a month or so ago. It makes me terribly happy, for a multitude of reasons, and so I share my first guest post. I'm sure the next will be about Star Wars, but for...
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Taking a Breather After #BEA13
I was at the Book Expo for much of last week covering it for Publishing Perspectives and am still processing everything that I saw, heard, want to read, and don't want to read. In some ways it's like...
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Being a Rule Breaker at Book Expo America 2015
Gloria Steinem's latest!It's been so long since I've blogged over here. It's not that I wanted to abandon NYLF, but life got busy, teaching got busy, family got busy, and I had mixed feelings about...
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Why I MFA
Sunset, Sarah Lawrence, Slonim HouseI can see the finishing line of my first year in grad school, pursuing an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Sarah Lawrence. This year has given me so much of myself...
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Pilgrims
This essay was published last May, and I never posted it here. It's a strange essay that moves from Joan of Arc to Joni Mitchell, one of those pieces that I didn't quite understand until I'd finished...
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