Erin Pavlina

You can’t see them, but they’re there. Invisible helpers, standing right next to you. Cheering for you when you’re excited. Hugging you when you’re sad. Holding and supporting you when you’re devastated. They’re there. Who are they? Why are they there? And is there any way to know when one is around? I’m talking about… Read On

I was living in Los Angeles when the news broke on the television that the police officers who had beaten Rodney King were acquitted. I remember that it didn’t take very long for violence to erupt. I watched with total abject horror as Reginald Denny, a white man in the wrong intersection at the wrong… Read On

When I was a teenager I was over at my friend Adrienne’s house one day. She was babysitting her two little cousins who were probably 8 and 10 years old. I remember at some point the kids started fighting and arguing and one of them hit the other. Adrienne told the offending child to apologize… Read On

Everyone in the neighborhood had a different name for him. I’m sure some of the elderly people on the block knew his real name, but I only knew him as Crabface. I’d dubbed him this horrible name because the day I and my college roommate, Todd, moved into the house across the street from him,… Read On

I took my car in for service the other day. It was supposed to take about 20 minutes, but the universe had other plans for me. For you see, it wanted to show me something, and I was a helpless captive to the desires of the universe. First I sat in the waiting room like… Read On