The biggest critique of Las Vegas is that it is a soulless city devoid of real culture. Next year marks my 20th year in Vegas and I’d argue that it is a surprisingly generous community with a unique culture. Hell, five of the 10 editorial staffers I worked with at CityLife are authors. So, if…
What would you let go of if you stopped listening to what the world wants you to be; to weigh; to present in perfectly airbrushed, social media pics? For International Self Care Day, I dare you to let go of the narratives, the beauty myths, the fat-shaming, the societal rules that only serve to fuck…
Dear Hannah Gadsby, Thank you. Thank you first and foremost for existing. Thank you for existing in the margins. Thank you for your jokes, your “lesbianing,” your non-binary gender in a binary world, for being a “quiet gay” who likes the sound a teacup makes on a saucer, your art history degree, for hating baby…
When I saw the news about the deadly shooting at the Capital Gazette in Maryland, like most Americans I was shocked and like most journalists, I was horrified and heartbroken. Five people are dead. From CNN: “The door of the Capital Gazette had been blown to pieces. It was in shattered pieces all on the…
Bill Cosby is a convicted rapist. He was found guilty in a Pennsylvania courtroom on April 26, 2018. He has been given not one, but two trials. A jury of his peers weighed the evidence and found Bill Cosby guilty of sexual assault. Bill Cosby is a rapist. That’s a hard sentence to grapple with…
We need to talk about Kesha and her performance of “Praying” at the Grammys last night. A lot has already been said about how so many amazing female performers were snubbed at the Grammys last night. I think a strong case could have been made for any of the women in the Best Pop Solo…
It’s time to have uncomfortable conversations. It’s taken me a long time to come to this. I’ve been living in the rage for so long that when it finally started to chafe, I didn’t recognize myself. And it’s not just my own rage, either. I have reveled in the fiery rants of John Stewart and…
With the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the brand new Star Trek: Discovery, it’s a great time to catch up with past Treks, too. I especially love the franchise’s first major female captain – Kathryn Janeway. Indeed, Star Trek: Voyager is all about boss women in what is essentially the Wild…
Sometimes I wonder what I’d be like if I’d never had the pain. I try to imagine a time before the pain, but there isn’t one. My very genesis was a combination of indiscriminate indiscretion and hurt multiplied. No doubt my mother’s mother was disappointed to find the last of her three girls pregnant in…
For more than a month there’s been this sensation in my chest — like being crushed from the inside. Normally my head is so full of words, I literally can’t sleep until I get them out. They dance in there like prosaic ear-worms. Lately, though, it’s been eerily quiet. The dead calm of stupefaction. All…
The Sin City Siren 