By whizz_dumb on Man Finds Album Underwhelming
@Danzig! Either way he would've found a way to write about how un-prude his sex life is.
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By petejayhawk on Did You Eat The Bones?
I've got half of a butchered cow in the chest freezer. Take one of whatever part you'd like.
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By Mr. B on A Poem By Megan Amram
Love it when the poets have tons of Twitter followers to link to.
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By mollytheviking on Ask Polly: My Best Friend Is In Love With My Sister!
HOLY SHIT that is me in that photo, hugging the statue. What did you people search to find that photo? From 2007.
I registered just to share this. Mind still in pieces on the floor.
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By Bittersweet on Ask Polly: My Best Friend Is In Love With My Sister!
Friendships are fragile, even when your best friend isn't dating your sister or your other best friend. Friends move to different cities or countries, or go to grad school, or get married and start families, and suddenly the distance between you is amplified by time and you can't complete each other's thoughts anymore.
My high school best friend and I were so close, and remained so even several years after graduation. But then life events pulled us in different directions, and we grew apart. I went to her wedding 2 years ago, and even though we live outside the same city about an hour apart, we may not spend much time together before we die.
All this to say, take Polly's advice and cherish your friend (and sister) as much as possible.
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By HeatherH on Ask Polly: Only Black Men Like Me, But I Don't Like Black Men
@Danzig! Oh man. That line about internalizing the lesson of trauma made me so sad. Thanks for posting this. I just don't want anyone to walk around with a limiting STORY about themselves, that is so much smaller and less full of promise than they are, a story that shuts out light and air and so much potential beauty. Vulnerability is somehow the way out of this defensive, basement narrative.
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By Sarsaparilla on Ask Polly: Only Black Men Like Me, But I Don't Like Black Men
SLAS reminds me of my best friend, who is also Biracial. When we met in college she made me really uncomfortable, in addition to trying to convince me that I was not a "real black girl" she also constantly mentioned her dislike for black man. I like all kinds of men, and it hurt me to hear her say that. I asked her if she liked her dad, brother, grandpa, and male cousins (who are all at least partially black) and she assured me that she did. I told her that her relatives and any male child that she had would be unjustly disliked by women who shared her mindset.
I was raised by socially conscious parents and taught that there is infinite diversity in the black experience and that anything that I decided to do/didn't, did not make me anymore or less black.
I suspect that people like SLAS and my best friend were not taught to value the blackness in themselves and therefore do not value it in others.
After hanging out with my BF for a while I started to dislike black men, and it made me feel sick. My internal dialogue changed, I started thinking "I am not a real black girl,they are all the same, they don't relate to me, I don't relate to them". Then I went home for break and got a much needed reality check. I came back to school and helped my BF change her internal dialogue. She has dated men of all races and is now in love with a black man (AND obviously me her BF)
In addition to getting some male friends as Polly suggested SLAS should try connecting with some black people(that she shares something in common with besides being black). I don't think dating a black man is the answer to her issues, but I think that seeing her blackness and blackness in general in a positive light could change her life. Also try reading some Harlem Renaissance Lit same shit diff decade, I suggest Harlem Renaissance Novels: The Library of America Collection.
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By Lcanon on Ask Polly: The Eventual Death of The Universe Is Making Me Anxious
There is an almost foolproof method I use for relaxing myself to sleep. You listen for 5 sounds (your breathing, your partner's breathing, a noise in the street, etc), then you count 5 separate sensations (pillow against your cheek, blanket on your shoulder, your legs, etc), then take 5 deep breaths. Do the same for 4, 3, 2, 1. I rarely get beyond 3. Even if it doesn't put me entirely to sleep it relaxes me. This is related to the practice of mindfulness and the concept of living in the here and now and not worrying so much about things you can't control. That being said, the fact that you are worrying about your place in the universe might indicate you have spiritual longings that you deny having. It wouldn't hurt to read and explore in this direction if you feel comfortable doing so. What you are worrying about it basically what many thinkers and philosphers have worried about for centuries. MOst of them eventually found answers of some sort.
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By NinetyNine on A Brief, Opinionated History of Taxes in America
Silver lining: this isn't a germane issue for most of the contributors in the Awl Network.
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By Maura Johnston on The Most Special Victim: Law and Order's Sneaky Attack on Christopher Meloni
Still not as good as the season-20 aside about Arthur Branch moving on from being DA of New York County to chief judge on a chintzy reality show.