Were we crying for her struggles or our own? — Olivia Newton-John’s death hit me hard. I’m not the world’s biggest ONJ stan — I didn’t save my babysitting money to buy Olivia Newton-John’s music, but I liked her well enough. I thought her music was too sweet for my rock ‘n’ roll tastes, but I still went to her…

The job description didn’t include wiretapping, fraud, or attempted murder, but it should have — Mrs. Finn’s* backstory was a publicist’s dream. She came from humble roots, married a doctor, divorced him, and married Joseph Finn, an owner of several mortuaries. She helped Mr. Finn quadruple his funeral home millions and made a little extra spending cash for herself, flipping houses during the real estate…

Her comic genius should be appreciated — Edie McClurg — you may not recognize the name, but if you heard her distinctive voice, it would be as familiar as a family friend. Not only has Edie appeared in dozens of movies and T.V. shows, but she’s also done a ton of voice-acting in Cars, Clifford the Big…

He may have been down and out, but that didn’t stop him from trying to take advantage of me — My friend Vanessa had a major crush on Jamal, so we were going on a fact-finding mission to his family’s falafel stand. Jamal was a year older than us, and he and Vanessa didn’t travel in the same social circle at school. If Vanessa had let Jamal know of her…

We never went back — When I was a kid, not only didn’t we have a car, neither of my parents drove. Tragically, I was in college before I experienced the glories of a drive-in movie theater. By then, drive-ins were on their way out. I needed to experience this American pastime before it disappeared…

Nothing typical about it — I’ve blurred the faces on the photo above, and now it’s a more accurate representation of how I remember that time — a blurry dream of color and poor fashion choices. At the end of the third row, I'm in a purple dress with orange splotches. If I’d given you…

Be glad you only need to share your heart with people you choose — I’ve never learned the title of the movie, who was in it, or when it was made. I was five years old, and the movie affected me to my core. The premise was simple; a vampire and a man, a mortal and a monster, shared the same heart. …

They’re always there when you need them — Dogs may be known as man’s best friend, but cats make great besties too. Not every cat is a candidate to be your BFF, Best Feline Friend. Some prefer to be supportive in passing. Lots of cats love to spend time with their humans, and if you pay attention, you’ll…

We were all assholes — If you said that Joanne* and I looked like sisters, I would assume you are a lazy thinker, and not especially creative. We both have blonde hair and larger body types, but Joanne is more statuesque and confident. …