Beauty pageants, you're only judged once. Sorority rush, you have to go through 20 parties.
I had been terrified of Halloween my entire adult life. Loved it as a kid, but the minute I got out of college, there were little kids at my door demanding candy, which, No. 1, I couldn't afford, and, No. 2, if I had candy, it would be mine.
I believe that I have such a vanilla life.
The Tao of Jen was very much the Tao of hiding everything that didn't look good. The Tao of Jen is wearing a cocktail dress with underwear with holes in it. The Tao of Jen is all style and no substance.
I hesitated before buying a Kindle. I wasn't worried that the digital reader would ruin literature as we know it. Rather, my concern centered on using an electronic device in the bathtub.
I didn't understand the Kindle's true value until I finished an e-book on the beach. In sixty seconds - and without benefit of pants - I had brand-new reading material at my fingertips.
If I were to run for president, then people would debate the pros and cons of what's wrong with me in increasingly aggressive 140 character tweets and Facebook status updates, and, inevitably, everyone would end up fighting.
I learned to speak Italian, somewhat. Definitely enough to get around in Italy. My grandfather always used to swear at my grandmother in Italian.
Remember when Japan was cool? We used to run around with 'Mr. Roboto' on our Walkmans, 'The Karate Kid' in our Betamaxes and wore T-shirts embossed with the characters for 'storm sewer' and 'dishwasher.'
Now with social media, people essentially come into my living room, my virtual living room, and tell me everything that is wrong with me.
I could manage my life so much better if an app could tell me exactly when my parcels will be delivered so I don't spend the day under virtual house arrest.
Asking me to choose between a traditional book and a Kindle is like asking me which of my dogs I love most.
I don't want to limit myself as a writer. Tastes change, and I want to keep my eye on the future.
You can't all of a sudden go to sleep one night and wake up Martha Stewart. It's bit by bit by bit.
Everyone who reads me is someone I'd like to hang out with.
I'm such a fangirl when it comes to other writers. I read 250 books a year, and I'm always talking up books by other authors.
Writing is something that I've always loved. That stems from my love of being a reader.
I've always been able to cook Italian food. That's in my blood because I'm half Sicilian.
No matter how happy anyone is with their choices, I believe it's human nature to wonder about the path not taken.
I'm very detail oriented. I think that's why people enjoy my memoirs - because I tend to remember everything.
