С женским днём! (Happy Women’s Day)

“Don’t forget to call Lidia Yakovlyevna tomorrow,” my émigré friend Inna reminded me yesterday at our weekly Russian lesson. “For the holiday.” I searched my mind frantically. I always feel so proud when Inna and her husband Victor tell me I’m “practically Russian”–usually when I’m happily scarfing down a plate of smoked herring or beef…

Big Ideas – Girls on the Run

Sometimes being around teen girls can be pretty painful–all that excruciating awkwardness comes whooshing back. The giggles. The blushing. The word “like.” That’s because being a teen girl is often painful. I remember. I was one, a rather long time ago, and a particularly scrawny, flat-chested, and knock-kneed one at that. I recall the near-constant…

“Act Like a Grrrl” – Ideas that Grow

    Following up on last week’s post on people with big vision and even bigger energy, here’s an essay I wrote called “For the Grrrls” for HER Nashville magazine about my friend Vali Forrister’s autobiographical writing camp for teen girls. The fabulous program Vali created is called “Act Like a Grrrl,” and it’s been my great…