Society | Dying to be Thin | ‘Size 2 Isn’t Sexy to Normal Men’

I searched the net for an hour to find one healthy-looking picture of the French model, Isabelle Caro, who died in November at the age of 28. Yesterday, it was revealed that her death was likely due to anorexia. Some have pointed out the sad and obvious: Another model dying to be thin. I support a woman’s right to put her best face and body forward; real beauty isn’t the culprit here. We can hold accountable, at least in part, a standard that keeps...

Private Confession | Sisters, Horse Dreams and Nearly Dying

Horses are synonymous with freedom. That I learned to ride shotgun, holding on to my sister’s waist when she would allow it, or the saddle, which she preferred, is one of my greatest childhood accomplishments. The smell of sweat and hay, the feel of horse lips against the palm of my hand, the kinship of a thousand pound beast resting it’s cheek against your own: these are organic pleasures. Of course, it’s easy to romanticize a childhood...

Rumi | Skin Hunger, Touch and Belly Dancing

Most poets are like a belly dancer who never reveals anything below her waist – I won’t tease you like that for I love when your eyes get e x c i t e d. —Rumi I know a radically skinny gal who obsesses about her cellulite. Other friends who agonize about the size of their breasts. Older women addicted to botox; their youthful counterparts to the gym. Mothers who resent their childbirth hips; statuesque beauties who stoop. How...

Erotic Male Nudes | Relief In Sight | Carolyn Quan

Carolyn Quan, a friend and artistic genius, is an internationally collected fine art photographer of nudes and nature. A self-described “lover of life and all of its magic and wonders,” her imaginations bursts through in shades of lush green, hues of Hawaii blue, and bodies that arouse envy and desire. What’s so refreshing and tempting about her male nudes is the conspicuous absence of phallic objectification. Everything that is divine about...

Winter | Time to Snow Some Love

Last night, my son argued with me, irritated that his bedtime had moved back an hour earlier from just a few months ago. Every parent has faced these battles, the “No Fair Zone!” that renders motherhood (and fatherhood too) an exercise in mutual disgruntlement. ‘Because I said so’ was my lame answer. Had I only read the following an hour earlier, might my heart have had the space to offer a a kinder answer? “Earth is...