Girl on the Brink: Surviving Desperate Times with Desperate Measures

Day 239 — Happy New Year

Tonight is New Year’s eve, and my ex, the bold one that he is, has already left to spend the next few days with someone he has only met online. I say, “Bad move.” But how can I begrudge him a little hanky panky. I’m also getting out of town. But I’ll be with someone I’ve known [...]

Day 238 — Just My Luck

The holiday ho hums have set in. After being a good doobie by digging my ex’s car out of the snow last weekend, I’m now in the doghouse for a couple of minor scratches I caused when I pushed a heap of snow off the trunk with the edge of a plastic shovel. I should have used [...]

Day 237 — Merry Christmas

Ann’s Note: Ann plans to take a break between Christmas and New Years and will publish two days next week—Monday and Thursday—as she enjoys the holidays with her children. Please enjoy her take on “The Night Before Christmas.” Twas the morning of Christmas, I just downed an ale; I grabbed Victoria’s Secrets to see what was on sale; Panties, [...]

Day 236 — Hoo Ha Advice for the Jobless

I got my hair cut yesterday. As usual, my hairdresser is never ready when I arrive. He’s either doing a last snip on a bob or blow drying locks. He was finishing up a short one while I browsed through a magazine I no longer buy—Cosmopolitan. Yeah, I can afford Cosmo, but why buy it when I can [...]

Day 235 — Digging Out

How do you know when you’ve hit bottom? This has recently become a pressing question for me. However bad things are, I’m always on guard for signs that life will get worse. Without succumbing to negativity, I find myself preparing to hit bottom, and then for the bottom to fall out and sink even further to some new [...]

Day 234 — News of the Times

Life never ceases to amaze me, and that’s a good thing because I’d hate to cease to exist. Take, for example, a blurb in today’s Washington Post about the discovery of 200 sewing needles in the body of a 2-year-old boy. The brief failed to reveal how the needles got there or what prompted the probe [...]

Day 233 — Pick Me for Living Proof!

Fingers crossed—again. Ann has just auditioned to become the on-air spokesperson for Living Proof, a line of no-frizz products that the company claims uses a revolutionary technology to fight the frizzies. If chosen, Living Proof promises to pay her a real salary, bonus and offer her stock options should the Boston-based company go public. Its founders are [...]

Day 232 — In and Out List for 2009

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for the first annual Girl on the Brink list of what’s in and out for 2009. That’s right. If you’re not working, you’re jerking (off), or is that making your own beef jerky. I wouldn’t have known. No turkey for Christmas, and you can’t afford lamb. Forget the HoneyBaked Ham. Time [...]

Day 231 — Economic Adventure

Jelly beans have a lot in common with drugs. The next time you’re in a drugstore, look at the poster for poison drug look alikes. At my CVS in Northwest D.C., a poster near the pharmacy shows more comparisons with Good & Plenty than any other candy. But a drug doesn’t have to be poisonous to [...]

Day 230 — Another Tragedy

The holiday cheer in our house feels like it’s been sucked up by a vacuum. Last week, we bought a tree, and I got my two children a few small presents. What they really want for Christmas is an Xbox 360 Elite, and they’ve saved up their own money to buy one. That’s the good news, as [...]