Today's writing brought to you by....karma!

I don't believe in a Santa Claus-style universe that keeps tabs on every little naughty or nice thing I do in order to sort out my just rewards, but I do believe that approaching others with positivity (or in my case, keeping my natural assholery in check) will reap benefits. But sometimes, you just get lucky. The November issue of the Women's Press is home-and-hearth themed, and my column acknowledges that it takes more than bricks and mortar to make a home: it takes a random group of strangers who are committed to being nice to each other. Or as one of my street-mates says, "it takes a village, but not the Village People."

My Street: It Takes a Neighborhood to Make a Home. Minnesota Women's Press, November 1, 2010.

Of course, my neighbors are more than just polite. As I note in my column, they are funny, smart, caring, generous, and most importantly, kind enough to keep silent about they times they've seen me naked.

I was polite, if not completely kind, in my latest work for Elevate Difference (formerly Feminist Review). But I was sorely disappointed in my subject, a book I hoped could provide practical advice and ideas to a burned-out social justice activist. Instead, I had to read 300 pages of warm fuzzies with all of the depth of an "ELECT ME!" campaign postcard. Ugh.

Review of Big Citizenship: How Pragmatic Idealism Can Bring Out the Best in America. Elevate Difference, November 9, 2010.

In the review, I note how guilty I feel for "nitpicking" a nice fellow like Alan Khazei for the crime of writing a boring book. I wrote the piece several weeks ago, yet the words appeared online when I was deep within a literal nitpicking of my own--my daughter brought home a infestation of kindergarten lice that upended our household for the better part of ten days. My husband, a neatnik who has learned to tolerate his wife's sloppiness, blew through our house with a combination of toxic shampoos and sprays that did little to prevent my karmic retribution. Yes, Alan Khazei, your nitpicky reviewer had to be nitpicked herself. Karma's a bitch!

Now I'm off to check my unpublished stuff for any hints of nastiness to come. I fear my manuscript may include cursing Michele Bachmann with an unending urinary tract infection....