If you’re here because you read my ‘Modern Love’ essay in The New York Times, welcome! That essay tells the story of loving my husband through severe depression and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). It captures a specific moment in time—a surreal visit to the Apple store, a locked psych ward, fear, devotion—but writing it did something larger for me. It helped me see patterns I’ve been … Continue reading Hello, and Welcome, ‘Modern Love’ Readers
To paraphrase Buddy the Elf, “Talking is my favorite!” And I had a delightful time talking to the fully managed podcast about how no plan is actually sometimes the best plan. In this episode of the Fully Managed Podcast, Stefanie Gunning shares how a theater background, a love for storytelling, and a lifelong writing practice shaped her path into creative leadership. She opens up about … Continue reading I Was On a Podcast
Burnout is a bomb with a very long fuse. In my case, the fuse was lit almost two years ago, in October of 2023, when my husband, Jonathan, went to the hospital with what he thought might be a heart attack but instead was a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. He was treated in the ICU, blood thinners and fluids flowing into him, oxygen hissing into his … Continue reading Medicine Dog
The second Sunday in May can be complicated. Continue reading A “Mamafesto”
As we enter into week…4?…5?…eleventybillion? of Covid-19 stay-at-home life, I’m definitely looking for ways to keep my monkey mind occupied and my cooped up body from permanently assuming the shape of the kitchen chair where I currently spend my workdays. I’m a former theatre kid, was a legit drama major in college, started my career at Manhattan Theatre Club, and have a tendency to burst … Continue reading Fame costs – and right here in my house that I haven’t left for a month is where I start paying
If you pay attention to such things, you’ll note it has been quite a long time since I wrote here. Blame it on the booze, got you feeling loose. Blame it on ‘tron, got you in the zone. Blame it on the P P P P P P Prozac. No seriously, blame it on the Prozac. I hardly drink anymore and I don’t know what ‘tron … Continue reading A Short List of Things That Did Not Kill Me And Therefore Made Me Stronger, I Guess. (No Definitely. Definitely Stronger.)
Like any Gen-X girl who donned an ankle bracelet and twirled around at a Grateful Dead show during the summer of Touch of Grey, I have enjoyed my fair share of recreational drugs. It was never all that big a deal for me — I preferred the comforts of plain cigarettes and Diet Coke to the highs of more potent product. But drugs were a … Continue reading All These Quiet Days
Not so long ago, I wrote about how one of my favorite authors inadvertently hurt my feelings by dismissing a career in advertising as the lowest form of hackism. Yesterday, my gallant friend and advertising colleague Ryan forwarded me this letter, which was originally sent to a fan from Kurt Vonnegut. Given a choice between being Jennifer Weiner’s shiller of crap and someone Vonnegut might consider witty … Continue reading The Definitive Word on Working in Advertising
I have loved Jennifer Weiner since her first book, Good in Bed, was released in 2001. That book, and the ones that followed (13 and counting) resonated with me so deeply it was as if they had secret messages encoded in them. And not just because, like Jen, I’m a chubby Jewish girl with hair that has less volume than I’d like, but because from the … Continue reading Eventually, You Write Your Own Story
My daughter, Emerson, graduated from 5th grade last Friday. It was a tender, joyful ceremony, as these things are, with applause for every child and a surprisingly well-choreographed group performance of (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing. There was a slide show that condensed the past 7 years into just a couple of minutes — round-cheeked preschoolers stretching into 11-year-olds as we watched (which is just how it feels in … Continue reading When Saturday Night Is Enough
Working Without a Net 