Archive for June, 2008
On Leaving Los Angeles …
I’m not sure you can call this week’s Lives essay by Rachel Cline in the back of The New York Times magazine brilliant. Critiques of Los Angeles always seem hackneyed and trite to those who never lived there. Cline, however, captures the gothic feel of Los Angeles, how time slips away and one month becomes ten years overnight, ...Read more.HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF CRAZY
Hot off the presses from Publishers Lunch: UCLA Medical Center OB/GYN Dr. Michael Lu’s HOW TO MAKE A SMART AND HEALTHY BABY: What You Need to Know Before You Get Pregnant, revealing the latest science on how preconception is a critical period for a child’s lifelong health and development while offering easy-to-follow advice including how ...Read more.NEVER MIND THE DOW
Here’s the real evidence the economy is in the crapper, courtesy of Craig’s List: HUGE sale -rain or shine Tent if it rains – 1000’s of things from several families – kid’s stuff, electronics, clothing, art work, household items, electronics, TOOLS, Bikes, toys, sculpture, games, designer linens, furniture – Brand new Executive Gifts, never opened ...Read more.I’m Shocked! Gambling at Rick’s Casino!
The news that shouldn’t be news study of the week comes courtesy of Rutgers University and the journal Politics and Policy. Researchers took a look at the academics offered spots on a number of op-ed pages including the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The results: men wrote more than 80% of the ...Read more.Too Many Books, Not Enough Time
Like all bibliophiles, I find there are too many books to read and not enough time to get to even one percent of them. As a result, every so often I will try to catch up with books I always meant to read but somehow never did. This month has been a particularly productive. First, I ...Read more.It’s All Genetics, of Course
My out-to-lunch parenting skills finally explained, courtesy of Dutch researchers. Their study also explains, no doubt, why I found this article from The Weekly Standard so compelling. The title says it all. It’s called, “The Kindergarchy: Every Child a Dauphin.” Go read it. The author posits that there is something very, very wrong with how we ...Read more.This Might Just Be the Funniest Blog Ever
Never mind Stuff White People Like. Check out the hilariously un-pc Blognigger. Let it be noted for the record that the rage of us native NYC kids who can no longer afford to live within the boundaries five boroughs (ok, I mean the gentrified parts of the five boroughs) knows no bounds. His side-splitting take-down of the reception ...Read more.The Wrong Movie
Years ago, the incomparable Ron Rosenbaum wrote a terrific essay called “My Theater Problem — and Ours,” in which he postulated the concept of “the wrong performance.” Instead of paraphrasing, I will quote directly: I always seem to be seeing plays that seem utterly unlike what everyone else seems to have seen. I’m forever going ...Read more.Co-Parenting is a Synonym for Twice as Much Work
As someone who fell into co-parenting (those of you who know me know both my husband and I work out of the house these days), I’m here to tell everyone what is wrong with this on-the-face-of-it amazing advance in sexual relations. In the time my husband and I spend negotiating the logistics of school pick-ups, playdate organization and ...Read more.Nicest Thing Ever Said About Me
Liza Was Here compared my voice in my recently published essay “The Mean Moms” to that of Anne Lamott. Thank you, fellow Smith College grad! And thanks to the magic of Google alerts, I now know of another great blog worth reading. As for “The Mean Moms,” it’s in the recently published anthology The Maternal is ...Read more.About Helaine Olen
I am the voice of The Bills, a column about the intersection of money and life, at Slate. At Inc., I contribute to the Spread the Wealth personal finance column. My work on politics, economics, workplace culture and women’s issues has been published in numerous other print and on-line publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon, Pacific Standard, and The Los Angeles Times, where I wrote and edited the popular “Money Makeover” feature.
I'm the author of the critically acclaimed book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, and The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be so Complicated, which I co-wrote with Harold Pollack.
What else? I’m a passionate bibliophile, a fan of 1970s pop music and a lover of rummage sales. I live in New York City.
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