It’s a Freelance Holiday.

CEO — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:58:18 -0800

There are a few downsides to being a freelancer around the holidays. Like for instance, no Office Party! No co-workers making out in the office-supply room. No boss making racist remarks while wearing Christmas-themed boxer shorts on his head.

The Best Graduation Gift Ever.

CEO — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:55:52 -0700

It’s spring! Spring! Just a few more months of school! The sun is shining on a more regular basis, graduation is in spitting distance, and my son got into his college of choice.

Mawwage.

CEO — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:49:09 -0700

Marriages are crumbling around me. Two friends of mine, within a year of one another, left their husbands for other men. Another married friend of mine admitted--with not a lot of compunction--that he’s had a girlfriend for years, and sorta can’t wait until his youngest child (age 12) leaves for college so he can divorce his wife.

Why I’m Not a Blogger.

CEO — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:14:00 -0800

For any of you keeping track out there, you might’ve noticed that my columns have become rather, er, sparse in the past several months. There’s been a certain amount of life going on. And I guess I just don’t have the Blogger’s Heart.

Life Could Be Worse.

CEO — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:20:53 -0700

It’s two am. Life could be worse. Okay, so, looking in from the outside, it doesn’t look great. We took our kids out to a party, stopped at Subway on the way home as per the suggestion of the 12-year-old; got gigantic, sloppy sandwiches, came home, wolfed them down.

Oh, Demon Alcohol!

CEO — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:45:28 -0700

Recently I was asked, first for Babble.com and then for Time magazine — if I had any thoughts on the “drinking mom” trend. Because apparently, in light of the tragic Diane Schuler drunken car crash, the era of the chardonnay-swilling mama is officially over.

Home, Home on the (Free) Range.

CEO — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:07:53 -0700

My son flew to Paris a few days ago, courtesy of his grandfather and college savings. The program where he was signed up to study French sounded professional and organized, but suddenly, in the days leading up to the fourth of July— his departure date—we couldn’t reach anyone to get any information about his host family.

Our Summer Experiment.

CEO — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:04:29 -0700

The economy being what it is, and life being what it is, we have a summer full of… no plans. The original plan -- back before the heart attack, the job layoff, and an overdue book advance—was that my oldest son Edison would go to France for a French immersion language school (borrowing from his college fund set up by grandpa).

The Three-Martini Makeover.

CEO — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:20:08 -0700

I’ve turned in my book, it was accepted enthusiastically, and now I’m venturing out from my bunker and looking around at the piles that have accumulated in my studio over the past few months. Parenting? Oh, yeah. That. I’m a little out of the loop.

A Yabba Dabba Doo Time.

CEO — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:08:13 -0800

Under a crushing book deadline, I’ve noticed I’ve gotten a wee bit lax about a few things. Along with the multiplying dust bunnies in every corner, too many take-out dinners, and the piling up of unpaid bills and unread magazines, there’s been a slight relaxation of our family “screen time” rules.