Are You a Wallflower?
The part of being single that always confounds me is that I’ve always had loads of dates and lovers. Just never one that I wanted to marry. This comic book cover is Wallflower from Girls’ Love Stories #150 (via sequential crush). Read the story recap here.
Does Being Single Weigh You Down?
For those who follow this site, you know I don’t like wallowing in the muck. (Well, maybe sometimes.) But today, I want to hear from YOU about the heavy lifting part of being single. Please be honest. What do you dislike the most? And if it’s all good, share that, too.
Image: Once Upon a Wall, by Aakash Nihalani
Party of One
This past Saturday and Sunday, two sets of gracious friends had dinner parties, to which I was invited. It’s lovely to be asked over for home-cooked meals, and I accepted happily. What I didn’t know in advance was that the guest list would be made up entirely of couples, except for me. I’m not saying that had I known about the demographics, I would’ve refused. But it gets tiring two evenings in a row. It takes work to remember that people probably aren’t looking at me with pity, thinking that I’m separate, different, alone. Each night, I returned home well fed. But I was happy to crawl into bed with an adoring dog.
Image via Cool Hunter
How To Make Art With Breakfast
Image: Just a Moment Now, 1973, Ed Ruscha. Egg yolk and ketchup on canvas.
A Song That Launched A Movement
On this day in 1939, Billie Holiday recorded Strange Fruit, which was written and originally performed by a Jewish schoolteacher in the Bronx, after seeing a disturbing photograph of a lynching. Holiday’s version had such impact that it eventually became an organizing tool, and the anthem for the anti-lynching movement in the U.S. Read the lyrics:
Spiritual Break
I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don’t paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I’m telling you is
Yes Yes Yes
God Says Yes To Me by Kaylin Haught from The Palm of Your Hand
Image: Nail Police by John Wesley
Not “Quite” What I Was Planning
This image was a proposed design by Leo Nickolls for a book published by Harper Press. I couldn’t resist playing the game. I’ve attached a few phrases for my unexpected life turns, and hope you’ll add yours to the list:
Preferring nonstick cookware to stainless steel
Reading Twitter before opening NY Times
Living without mate in middle age
Becoming slavish dog and cat owner
Finding real community at neighborhood synagogue
Archive for April, 2011
About this Site
FIRST PERSON SINGULAR is a guide to surviving, thriving and sometimes just getting through a single day. Created by Wendy Braitman (more…)
Follow First Person Singular
Greatest Hits
