University of She

Perfect Strangers by Carly Phillips is a brisk romantic novella about that one night stand you just can't let go. As her occupational title intimates, Dr. Alexa Collins is too busy for relationships and prefers interactions of the single-day variety. But what happens when the guys stop seeming like a soulless stereotype and more like the adventure you always needed?  This smooth adventure goes by the name of Luke Thompson and he sweeps Alexa off her feet.  Unfortunately, Alexa has plans. You see when the people of Serendipity, the fictional town the story takes place in, call her the "best doctor we have" with expectations of her taking over the University Hospital eventually, this comes with certain responsibilities. Alexa obviously doesn't have time for anything greater than a fling when it comes to Luke. However, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that maybe running University Hospital isn't  just her plan. With an overbearing father who is the hospital...

  The Book Club Hotel is Women's Fiction done right. The gorgeous pastel-dominant book cover captures the overall light tone accented by real-life issues. One thing I hate in books is multiple main characters with multiple subplots. However, the book club hotel handles this element masterfully as it weaves in and out of each the individual woman's life with effortless agility. Erica, Anna, and Claire are three women at crossroads in their lives: Anna, the homemaker, is feeling anxious and unappreciated with her kids leaving the house and going off to college. Clair the Chef just lost her job and her passion and is not even sure if she wants to cook anymore. Finally Erica, the risk management agent who is married to her job, is about to get her world turned upside down.  In the meantime, the owner of the hotel they decide to have a getaway at has her own problems trying to live up to the ghost of her dead husband who ran the hotel before her. Fittingly the romantic element is m...

Let me save you some time. The October Issue of Elle is like all ads. Like entirely. There are some concept pieces that try to trick us into believing they're ads, but we're not stupid. They're ads. The only thing worth reading is the article about Bridgeton Alum actress Phoebe Dyvenor. A last name cloaked in allure and mystery -- mainly because none of us know how to pronounce it. Thanks, Letter Y, your Double Agentry was the worst grammatical decision in history. But aside from her meteoric rise and her six month stint dating Pete Davidson (which apparently everyone has done nowadays. It's almost a requirement for getting your drivers license) the theme of her attraction to playing rebellious women. The book 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt calls this character The Maiden or (the more villainous rendition) The Troubled Teen.  So, right after we learn how to pronounce her name, lets unleash our inner Phoebe Dyvenor today. Rebel ...

  In today's Art Spotlight, we look at Art By Megan. Megan describes her art as such:  "Reflections of light on water, shadows created by trees, and fallen leaves, as well as petals on contrasting surfaces inform my subject matter. I paint these fleeting moments, so they are noticed." Her paintings remind me of the goddess Athena: the goddess of wisdom and art. They seem like two starkly different components but philosophers have long talked about the connection between the two. How you can tell a lot about the morals of a community by the type of art they consume.     One looks like a collection of leaves of varying colors flowing in a twist of wind. They evoke happiness. Joy. A beauty that women have had to learn to see in the face of obstacles. A beauty men have had to learn to slow down and see. A baby's laugh. A beautiful sunset. On the other end are her sea paintings which evoke something completive and wise. The deep blue reminds me of long deep talks about fee...

  OVERVIEW:  Cindy Elanor Woods is a Plus-sized fashionista with an underlying cynicism due to losing both her parents at a young age. Despite having a degree in fashion design, she is currently jobless until opportunity knocks in the form of a reality dating show -- Before Midnight . Cindy accepts the offer and joins the show looking for the chance to show off her fashion chops but (as the book cover blatantly intimates) she may end up finding love in the process. COMMENTARY: When you have to endure the pain of a loved one dying at an early age, fairy tales are basically bullshit to you. Because of this perspective, Cindy essentially embodies the experience of the reader and all of us who roll our eyes at Reality Show "Romance". Yes, these shows are an essential papering over of some harsh realities in the world and how love truly comes about. But in that same way, isn't that silhouetted dress, those painful high heels, that brilliant shade of red lipstick? Is it an unt...

  “Stay Happy and Be Positive” that is the the mantra of Houston Artist Carol Simon. Though my exploration of women artists, I've encountered a wide variety of styles. From the sublime to the dark art that looks deliberately like roadkill. But all the art, it seems, presents its own message. If there is a message that Carol Simon that resonates with me it's gratitude. This is most perfectly embodied in her Gratitude Collection which I won't display here for copyright issues, but to describe the art, I would say it is a kaleidoscope of nebulae -- spurts of joy -- calling us to have gratitude in the simple joys of life. Take me, for instance. Right now I am sitting in a bar, sipping wine, with access to the internet. Normally, I would just sit here and stare into the abyss. Maybe mourn the meaningless of life, but gratitude commands me to take advantage of it. There was a time when I had no laptop, no internet, no place to write. And I still wrote. But now, the paralyzing f...