Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 I was kinda amazed to recently see that all of my old "My City" articles are alive and well over at My City Magazine's site .   You have to click on the individual articles to access a PDF (and it's easier to do on a desktop or laptop computer than a phone) but you can see the pics and read the actual articles from the last 10 years.   Tiff Tantrum David Childers Paint Fumes Leisure McCorkle Felicia Castelow  (now known as Finn Castelow) The Menders   Benji Hughes (my only cover story but sadly incomplete on this link) And there are some, that I've got to be honest about now 10 years later, that I can barely remember because they were typically written as a favor or filler.  Sorry.  And there are also a few that I dearly loved (Dust & Ashes) that don't seem to be there.  Again, sorry. It was a good ride.  And 10 years later, I still get asked about it and even (weirdly) recognized for my work over there.  And for that, I'...

 It's almost a damn shame how much I love ragging S&TC nowadays.  But I think that was my favorite part of Susan Seidelman's memoir.....her discussion of her involvement in the HBO mega-hit.  She directed the pilot and also two of my favorite first season episodes: The Power of the Female Sex and The Baby Shower.  That was when that show was fun and unique.  Later even Susan recognized it as becoming tone-deaf and out of touch.   I also liked hearing her stories about Lower East Side Manhattan in the late 70's and early 80's.  It's one of my fave historical times of NYC for its creativity and grit.  When I was a kid I didn't understand how the different neighborhoods and boroughs of NYC worked.....I just thought it was funny how different the places looked in films.  Her effort to keep the Lower East Side and the "dirtier" life of New York was so much more real and entertaining than the glossier films of the city. Probably her bigges...

 As an older single gal, I get advice from well-meaning people all the time.  Of all that advice and observation, I think this might be one of the few books that really spoke to me. Jane Juska did something revolutionary back in 2001.  She wrote a book about being an older single woman who still wanted to have sex.  The book was called "A Round-Heeled Woman" and it was powerful. Imagine that! Then she followed up with this book which more about how RHW came to be and what came after. There are so many things I love about Jane.  She is real and unapologetic.  Modern but also rooted in polite tradition.  I think I see myself in women like this.  We understand what our current times are all about, but we still miss some old-fashioned tropes. I love how Jane laments a man she's in love with even though she knows she shouldn't be.  I love how she's not willing to give up exactly what she wants in a relationship.  I love how she's still a roma...

 It has taken me a long time, nearly 20 years, to describe my child as having Profound Autism.  I have often said "he functions as an 8 year-old child".  I have said his inability to have a job was because of his inability to "attend to a task and follow directions" in a typical way.  I have said many times "he has language but is not necessarily conversational".  I have said these things many, many times. Why couldn't I just have said this? Was I trying to make myself feel better or make the folks who asked about him more comfortable?   The term "intellectual disability" is now used instead of another word that sadly became a slur.  Was I trying to avoid my child being a slur? For whatever reason, I always had explanations and details to describe my son.  And I suppose in some ways, I always will.  I don't want anyone to ever see him as being "locked away in a home".  I don't ever want anyone to see him as being lost or wit...