Girl on the Brink: Surviving Desperate Times with Desperate Measures

Day 121 — Online Education, Pass

One of my major regrets in life is that I didn’t take college seriously and that I left before graduating. One of my minor regrets is that I didn’t have more fun. I was as clueless at play as I was at work, or at least that’s how it looks from where I am now. [...]

Day 120 — Mood Foods

What does pot roast put you in the mood for? Sleeping in your pajamas at your mother’s house. A Leonidas chocolate? Sleeping with your clothes off at your lover’s house. These are what I call “mood foods.” I eat them all the time, depending on whether I want to be stimulated or comforted. Sometimes I crave both—at the [...]

Day 119 — Does Race Matter?

I’ve often wondered if it helps to be black, or any minority for that matter, to get a job. The more obscure the race and ethnicity, the better. The only way I can figure out how to trick an HR person into believing that I’m a minority is to enter fake answers on an affirmative action [...]

Day 118 — Job Hunting in the Dark

Ann is always reaching for new lows, and this has nothing to do with bending over but what she finds on TV. The latest low is a new ABC reality series, Dating in the Dark. I think this show redefines blind date, because, well, we could have just kept the lights on and found a group of [...]

Day 117 — Are You Normal?

Oh, great. Just what I want to do. Go out with a 62-year-old man whose first online screening question was whether I’m “normal.” I kid you not, he began his email with this question: “is there any such thing? I wanted to screen people by asking thta [sic] if you are on Anti=depressants [sic] or suffer [...]

Day 116 — Improving Your Odds

Turns out what guys can do to improve their dating odds will also improve their hiring odds. I learned about the poor grooming habits of men after reading Guys: Increase Your Chances in Match.com’s Happen magazine. Of the 10 suggestions, I could only see one that might not apply to improving your hiring odds—clip your toenails. [...]

Day 115 — Ann Gets Serious

I’ve come to believe that the fifties are a time of sexual exploration and rediscovery of oneself. I don’t mean the 1950s, or the free love era of the 1960s and 1970s. I’m speaking of divorced boomers who are seeking a partner who will release their inhibitions and reignite their enthusiasm and passion, not just in [...]

Day 114 — Pet Peeves

You can be a voyeur through my eyes, and it will only take a minute of your time and not the hours I’ve spent researching some of my blog topics. Come, a little closer. Let me whisper in your ear about some of the other things I dislike about living with my ex and being [...]

Day 113 — Alone Again, Unnaturally

My ex spoofed me on Match.com. I knew it when I read his online profile, but I was seduced by the thought of exploring a relationship with a man who shared my passion for sailing. He could have had another passion as long as he wouldn’t take mine away. When I finally confronted him and he admitted [...]

Day 112 — Here Come the PUPs!

I am declaring myself a PUP—a Poor Urban Professional. We are a motley crew. Ex couples trapped into living together (like me). Sons and daughters moving back home to live with the rents and asking mom and dad for a bailout. PUPs are previously upwardly mobile folk with single-family homes, V70 Volvos (that’s the station wagon kind), [...]