Life | Musings on Life and Love

Category Archives: Life

I Traveled The World, Trying To Find My Home

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Amy Ewen One comment

They say, “Home is where the heart is.” But what if your heart is in more than one place?

They also say, “Home is where you hang your hat.” But what if you prefer to hang your hat in the same place every day?

These two old sayings seem to be at odds with one another. The former offers comfort by implying that wherever your heart longs to be is home, while the latter aims for embracing life, saying home is wherever you currently are. I have found both of these to be no comfort, and in fact, total crap.

Life

Spoiled By Early Success

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Mary Jo Cramb 7 comments

That early success gave me a boost of confidence, but in some ways, it spoiled me for later life. I felt devastated when my college graduation wasn’t a repeat of the adulation heaped on me four years earlier. I cried that even though I was graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, I hadn’t been singled out for any individual awards. Being just one of many names on a list — even a fairly short list of the most elite students at my small, but well-regarded college — wasn’t good enough. It felt like a letdown, like I wasn’t personally valued by the school and its leaders.

I was angry — at myself for falling short in some way, for the fact that my best hadn’t been good enough, and at the school for not giving me the send-off I felt I deserved. I somehow convinced myself I had a right to feel betrayed, because I had taken out loans to attend a small private school in order to feel special and get individual attention, and the school wasn’t holding up its side of that unspoken bargain.

Life

My Teacher Made Me Ashamed To Be An Introvert

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Dennis Hong 17 comments

If she felt awkward eating alone, that was her insecurity, not mine. And yet, because I looked up to her, her insecurity became my insecurity. In trying to make a point, she unwittingly made me ashamed of my introverted tendencies. I wasn’t traumatized by her comment, but it certainly made me second-guess myself. For over a decade.

Life

Life Is Too Good Not To Breathe

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Peter Loggins 2 comments

Editor’s note: Peter Loggins is a legend within the swing dance community. He’s also an old friend and a source of inspiration. Aside from dancing, Peter used to be a competitive runner, skateboarder, and snowboarder, and is one hell of a tattoo artist. He is, in short, one of the baddest badasses you’ll ever meet. The confession below, which he

Life

School Shootings – A Personal Perspective On Why They Happen

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Will Childers 7 comments

I have a unique perspective on school shootings and why I think they happen. As you can see from this photo, we were a pretty normal and happy-looking family. However, at one point in my life, I was in the mental state of one of those shooters. The following is my personal story I would like to share with you. This

Life

I Wish Cars Had A “My Bad” Horn

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Dennis Hong 17 comments

A few days ago, I almost plowed my car into a shiny new BMW because the dumbass in the Beemer failed to check for oncoming traffic (that is, me) before making a turn. Unmentionable profanities spewed from my mouth as I was forced to swerve around him at 50 mph. But then, I looked over as I blew past him

Life

Why You Can’t Prove (Or Disprove) That God Exists

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Dennis Hong 10 comments

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had one of those uncanny dreams that go something like this: You’re at home… or work… or school. All of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off, and you see smoke seeping in all around you. You scamper frantically down the hallway. Meanwhile, the fire alarm continues to blare—BLAAA BLAAA BLAAA BLAAA BLAAA. You

Life

How I Pissed Off A Bunch Of Asian Women On The Internet

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Dennis Hong 79 comments

Welp, the angry people are at it again. From now on, whenever I submit an article to The Frisky, I should just make it my goal to see how many hypersensitive people I can offend. That’s what usually ends up happening, anyway. Here’s a rundown of the latest drama: I published an article (which itself was based on an old

Life

A Little (Ruthless) Mocking Only Made Me A Better Person

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Dennis Hong 9 comments

I confess. Back in college, I was in a fraternity. And yes, I engaged in some of the dumbass behaviors you probably associate with fraternities. Even today, friends sometimes express surprise when they find out that I was a “frat boy.” Other times, when I’m caught in moments of douchiness, I’m told that I’m “still such a frat boy.” But,

Life

If You Can’t Change The World, Change Yourself

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Dennis Hong 13 comments

Man, the world is full of angry people. And I’d say that, aside from the smattering of terrorists, bigots, outright lunatics, and one chartreuse superhero, about 95% of them inhabit the comments section of various websites. I write about dating and relationships because I truly do want to help bridge the communication gap between men and women. Even though we

Life

I’m Still Learning How To Say No

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Erica Sager 17 comments

Warning: The following article contains possible triggers for victims of sexual assault. I’ve never been good at confrontation. When I’m alone, I argue like a pro. When there’s nobody to cut me off, I put everybody in their place. When I’m lying in bed, thinking about what I wish I’d said, I make flawless points that win every argument. I’m

Life

Dear Politics: Please Pick Your Battles

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Dennis Hong 8 comments

Years ago, whenever my mom deemed it necessary to declare war on someone I or my sister was dating, she would execute a pretty ambitious—though usually ineffective—battle plan. Her strategy? To “prove” the person wasn’t right for us by systematically pointing out every last imperfection this person might have. If character assassination is what you do when you want to

Life

Can You “Hear” What You Read And Write?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Dennis Hong 22 comments

Here’s a fun little experiment. Read the passage below in your head and see if it makes sense to you. If it doesn’t, read it out loud to yourself. If it still doesn’t make sense, ask someone to recite it to you. Hopefully, then it should be obvious. And if you don’t have someone (to recite the passage to you,

Life

It’s Okay, I’m A Doctor — It Says So Right Here On My…

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Dennis Hong 4 comments

Do you remember learning about self-esteem in grade school? When they teach you to stand up for yourself in an assertive way? To speak up when someone doesn’t give you the respect that you deserve? As it turns out, that’s only half the lesson. Because they certainly don’t teach you how to respond when someone gives you respect that you

Life

Does Christianity Have A Place In Professional Football?

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Jon Shellhammer 14 comments

It’s another Sunday in the National Football League. With just over a minute left in the game, the home team is down by three points. The ball is on the 20-yard line. 60 feet from the goal line. 60 feet from victory and glory. At this point, most coaches wouldn’t call for the quarterback to take off running with the

Life

When Ordinary People Turn Into Trolls

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Dennis Hong 16 comments

For the past few months now, I’ve been contributing guest columns on Dear Wendy. By no means do I consider myself a relationship expert, but I do believe I’ve been through enough personal drama that I can offer some pretty good insights. Plus, helping people gives me a warm, gooey feeling that’s way more slimming than hot fudge. Of course,

Life

Losing My Motivation

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Dennis Hong 19 comments

I don’t do running. That is to say, I don’t do running when running is the only thing being done. Running in flag football, floor hockey, or settling of drunken bets? That, I can do. But… just running? Like, the ancient Greek death sentence known as a marathon? Crap, no. I’m decent at sports that require quick bursts of speed,

Life

Leading A Balanced Life Doesn’t Come Easy For Me

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Lady Bee 7 comments

Balanced is not my middle name. There are many adjectives that could be substituted for the middle name printed on my birth certificate–friendly, loyal, hard-working, honest, funny, impatient, shy–but “balance” isn’t on that list. I have an all-or-nothing personality. If I have decided to do something, then whatever happens, I’ll do it. I like to think of this as fortitude

Life

I Hate Myself, But In A Good Way

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Isaac Kennedy 15 comments

I hate myself sometimes–my face, my body, or even my hair when it won’t go quite exactly how I want it to go. Since I was 13 years old, my weight has remained fairly constant, but my height has changed by around a foot. In a span of a few years, I went from awkward overweight child to awkward underweight

Life

To Be Strong Is To Show Our Weakness

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Dennis Hong 29 comments

Being a guy sucks sometimes. I mean, aside from having to constantly monitor all these fragile dangly parts that we absolutely positively must keep out of the way of zippers, rogue knees, and hand rails (although that last one really only applies if we’re doing rail slides on a skateboard), we’re also trained from an early age that we’re not

Life

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