MODERN IFIGENIA

Right now everyone is in a tizzy. James Comey, head of the FBI was fired while conducting an investigation into the shenanigans of the guy he helped get into office. Most people are discussing the implications of these recent events: what does it say about Russia? Clinton e-mails? I am less sophisticated and see these events in more mundane terms. What just happened at the national level happens every day  in most work places. Comey is that mediocre white guy in the office who gets promoted despite his lack of skills. We all know him, he is competent enough to have a conversation in the jargon of his field, but not competent enough that one would rely on his work, however, he has two great skills the mediocre often have: He knows how to kiss ass and he easily identifies the next hand that will feed him. He also benefits from the fact that people are more likely to trust an incompetent white man to lead an agency than a competent woman or competent man of color. We all know how ...

On December 31st of 2016 I went to celebrate New Year's Eve and watch a few fireworks in Hershey, PA. Earlier that day, a club filled with revelers was bombed in Istanbul, Turkey, leaving many dead and more injured. I was sad about the bombing, but decided I wasn't going to let that get in the way of me celebrating the beginning of 2017. I enjoyed my time in Hershey until the fireworks went off. The sounds of those fireworks reminded me of the first time I had ever heard them. The first time I learned about fireworks, the local stadium set them off and hadn't notified anyone, so when the fireworks went off everyone thought they were gun shots (we had also never heard gun shots, but lived in a high crime area so that seemed the most rational explanation for the sound). The "shooting" lasted for too long so someone finally decided to go outside and caught the last few bursts. They started yelling for all the neighbors to come out to see the fireworks. By t...

Dating has not been easy-mostly because I have two principles that are conflicting. I am extremely cheap and extremely well traveled. Men who travel tend to spend a lot of money at price points I don't care for; people who are cheap tend to not travel. So in my dating endeavors, I found this man who went on a trip on his own. He stayed in a hostel and the next day I spoke to him. He had trouble sleeping. I asked why and he explained that he was sharing a room with four others and in the middle of the night someone came in making a ton of noise waking everybody up. He said that in the middle of the night he just kept thinking why didn't he pay an extra $15.00 for a private room. He then said "but don't worry, when we travel together this isn't going to happen" I asked "oh, so if we travel you are going to splurge?" and he said" splurge? no, I mean, I'll make sure everyone knows not to wake you up." I really think this one might just ...

"Why don't you use the photo where I look 45lbs thinner, because I was 45lbs thinner when I took it"

Woman: I am sorry, this just isn't going to work out, thank you for your time though. Man: Well, I am a great catch, no wonder you are single if you are that demanding. Woman: Yes, that is how single-hood works, I stay single until I find somebody that makes me not want to be single anymore, you don't make me want to be not single, capisce ?

Okay, okay, okay-I have a major dilemma and it is only January. By now you have probably heard of the cheap tickets to Iceland offered by WOW -what you probably don't know is that those prices also apply to Copenhagen, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bristol, Frankfurt, Dublin, Dusseldorf and Stockholm-yes, for around $300.00 you can visit any of these destinations from Washington, DC/Baltimore. So here is my problem, if I go to any of these locations I will have to pay for room and board, which is now more affordable because I own an American Express card which is giving me $25.00 per $100.00 I spend on hotels anywhere in the world. Nonetheless, I would still have to pay for hotels if I go to Europe. I could also go to Turkey because the spring typically brings low rate flights (around $450.00) and I can have free room and board from a friend. The problem with Turkey is that I have already been there, though re-visiting it would help me learn my Turkish. For once in my li...

Have you been asked this questions a lot? Well, maybe you haven't been asked the question this way, but I often find men attributing negativity to the women I am most impressed by and deem the most positive. I decided to write about this because the long-established inverse relationship between competence and likeability for women that Sheryl Sandberg has discussed rather frequently, seems to play out in the dating world as well. I am not going to talk too much about my life's accomplishments, but I am in mostly male dominated fields and I am a high performer. When I started dating, I found myself in situations where men would make statements like: "I am so proud of you and of knowing you" or "I can't believe I was lucky to meet someone like you" or "do you know who you are?" These questions would be followed by the explanation as to why we could not continue dating. I chucked it all to chemistry or lack thereof. There wasn't animo...