break-ups

Hacks to Extricate an Insane Ex from Your Life — Digital Edition

Hacks to Extricate an Insane Ex from Your Life — Digital Edition

Throughout my life as a singleton I encountered possibly more than my fair share of crazies. And not just the run-of-the-mill kind of crazy like that one dude who won’t change his underwear throughout the entirety of Football season. Or the one who calls his mom thrice daily. I’m talking the kinds who dig their claws in and won’t let go until a restraining order has been served. So I have some experience getting them the hell out of my life. And, now, I’m happy to share that wisdom with you. You lucky little ducks, you. 

The Love Is Dead Summer & Why the Hell Do I Care?

The Love Is Dead Summer & Why the Hell Do I Care?

Celebrity couples come and go more frequently than they do in pleb society. Just another reason shit is hard for the beautiful people. We really shouldn’t be invested in these breakups. Or, at the very least, we should be used to them by now. Yet, like most things celebrity, we ravenously consume news of famous failures in love. Except for those who are above it. Good for you! Your life is richer than most. 

Nostalgia For Friendships Past

Nostalgia For Friendships Past

Thirty has been a surprisingly nostalgic year for me. I’ve chased the feeling with manic panic hair dye, 2003 throwback costume parties and concerts featuring my high school favorites. Alkaline Trio even catered to my sentimentality with their Past Live tour. Hell, the revitalization of this blog is probably a desperate attempt to hold onto the days of yore despite the fact that I now get my purple hair done in a salon, I can’t squeeze into my clothes from 2003 and Slug started dressing like my dad.

Therapy, I Swears By It

Therapy, I Swears By It

Know what’s amazing? Therapy. Know who needs to realize this? Everyone. I just got a message from a friend explaining how he unloaded six months worth of built up mental health concerns in one session. The result?  A prozac prescription. During that six-month period, he had gotten out of a tumultuous relationship with a bag of crazy, so the need for a little help from a professional was unsurprising.

Blocked & Breakups

I thought when my relationship ended, so would my writer’s block. Well it never really was writer’s block, just more respect for the individual I was sharing my days with for awhile. But it seems to have just gotten worse. Maybe it’s because it’s not really over for me yet. (Yes I know. I’m stupid, crazy, deluded, enter similar adjective here.) Maybe I just need time to decompress. Whatever it may be I’m going to force a post in hopes of restarting the rusty word processor.

Crazymaking, Gaslighting and General Assholery

After I split with my fiancé for the final time, I spent weeks of therapy learning that I wasn’t (am not) crazy. The real eye-opener was this book. It read like a narration of the entire demented year and a half. It was then that I recognized the gaslighting that was going on inside of my relationship. Evans named it crazy-making, but the concept is exactly the same. He (or she) dismisses what you’re feeling or thinking as a dysfunction of your personality or entire gender in order to control the situation and, ultimately, you.

Religion, Dating & Finding Out I Can’t Remain Detached

I’ve dated on nearly every point along the Western religion spectrum from atheist to spiritual-ish to Jesus freak. In theory, if a guy hates Jesus, it should be a deal breaker for me. But I’ve blurred the lines on that rule, probably one time too many. For the most part it hasn’t been a major problem in the early stages. Mostly due to a mutual respect for what the other individual believes. Healthy conversations can be had without turning into conversion attempts or all-out arguments. Much like a friendship on the same plane. Except, unlike friendships, you may have to raise a child with this individual so that can be a problem down the road. 

Strange Encounters of the Hot Mess Kind

I didn’t think I had it in me, but apparently I possess the ability to crumble into a steaming pile of spaz with merely a glimpse of a guy I dated for a few months so long as that glimpse also includes an impossibly skinny brunette. There was a time that I dreamt I had more dignity than that, but I was wrong. Because today a poorly timed siting at Rainbow Foods just completely ruined my shit.