News

I’m on the early side of a plane ride back from Los Angeles, and I’m sad the jaunt is over. I loved everything about it: the knuckly gray trees shooting up from the sandy soil; the massive ultimate frisbee tournament on Santa Monica beach, all tie-dye and cheering and stereotypes; zipping along the Pacific Coastal Highway on the back of a vintage motorcycle, grinning against the foam of my pink and black helmet; bringing a book to the water but leaving it folded in my bag as I watched the rhythmic water. I love Brooklyn, and I couldn’t imagine settling down on the west coast, but every time I visit I leave carrying three new things I want to do in California, my to-dos sprouting like dandelions. As I promised my wonderful hosts Sarah and Erin, I’ll be back, and soon.

The trip wasn’t just a vacation, but rather a last hurrah before I rejoin the ranks of nine-to-fivers. On Thursday, I’ll take my post as Whole Living‘s new senior editor, health and nutrition. (That’s right, my title includes a comma.) I’m as surprised as, well, many of my friends (“…but you love freelancing!”) to find myself leaving the writing life behind — for now — but I’m also so, so very excited to dive into this new position. I love the magazine, love its focus on holistic health and mind-body medicine, love its beautiful layouts and emphasis on green living and every single editor I’ve met there. If I weren’t dog-tired and strapped into an airplane seat, I’d be bouncing around in excitement right now.

That means the next, oh, two days will be spent tying up freelance projects. I’ll update my CV section as more magazine clips roll in in February, March and April; I’ve worked with some incredible editors and am psyched to see these stories in print. On that note, time to turn this tray into a desk and complete some articles.

Attention, attention! Stuff Hipsters Hate is doing fun things! After months of relative dormancy, my blog/alter ego (coauthored with my buddy Brenna) is cohosting a band showcase on Friday, and we’re featuring a big handful of guest bloggers throughout December. We’re thinking of it as little stocking stuffers for our loyal readers. I’m jazzed (in the most unhipster way) about all of the great bloggers we roped into writing for us. Delegation rules.

Also: My big sis, Julia, whom you may know from her blog Book Stalker, is up for a Pushcart Prize! The literary magazine InDigest nominated her for her short story, Disease. Read it through and feel disturbed for days. That’s the Bartz promise.

…the front line being, of course, my couch.

Happy belated Thanksgiving! The first thing my dad asked me after picking my sister and me up from the airport was a jovial, “So no one’s hired you yet?” My (admittedly acerbic) answer: “Lots of editors have. For stories I’m writing for them. It’s going really well, thanks.”

And it’s true, freelance writing has been a blast; I love working on a range of stories for an array of editors, and I’m having fun flexing my pitching and reporting chops for topics other than psychology (although my Rolodex of psychologist sources is as well-thumbed as ever).

I’ve written about such diverse topics as bohemian Wall Streeters, “Perry-phasia,” seasonal dating habits and grooming your way to a promotion; in print, expect to see my byline in Women’s Health, SELF, Health, Martha Stewart Living, American Baby and more in 2012.

One drawback: It’s 11:42 and I’m up and tapping away at a complex health story with a Tuesday deadline. Now, back to that.

It isn’t often that I have a damn good answer to “What’s new?” Right now, I do: As of, well, this weekend, I am self-employed. After gaining a ton of great writing and editing experience at Psychology Today (and perfecting the art of tapping out polished copy on almost the first try), I decided to leave my job to go full-time freelance. (I’m not a squee girl, but if I were, I’d be squeeing.) I’m very excited to focus on my reporting and writing, diversify my portfolio, serve as my own boss and spend too much time in yoga pants.

I think I’m well-positioned to work on science writing (thanks to Psych Today), women’s service (thanks to SELF) and humor/pop culture (thanks to Stuff Hipsters Hate), plus whatever other fun assignments stretch my limits (I’m current working on an article for The Fiscal Times, for example). ‘Twill be an adventure!

One other spot of fun news: Stuff Hipsters Hate is cohosting a CMJ showcase on Friday, featuring some rad musical acts including Max Burgundy, Not Blood Paint and Golden Pony. This will be the first SHH event in Manhattan but we promise it’ll be worth crossing the bridge for.

And with that gaping preposition, I’m out.

Hello there! Another two months just zipped by with a sharp whirring noise. I’ll bring you up to (mach) speed in bullet points:

• My title at Psychology Today was recently bumped up to senior news editor! I’m excited and grateful for the nod to my abilities after I took on more sections and began handling larger pieces. A 3,500-word well story that I conceived, assigned and edited will appear in the November/December issue, and it’s looking great.
• Speaking of features, the full text of the one I wrote about Highly Sensitive People in the July/August issue is now available online. The feedback I got on it was super gratifying. It often revealed just how sensitive the reader was — several told me my piece “brought them to tears,” and one was offended by the “girly and obviously insensitive font used throughout the piece.” HSPs, I love you!
• Brenna and I recently did a popular and (apparently) contentious mini-series on CNN.com about online dating messages and profiles. Enjoy the gamut here, here and here.

How the time flies! Summer’s clipping by, replete with movies in the park, trips to Wisco, a weekend in Vermont and lots of summer shandy sipping. (Said three times, fast.) To bring you up to speed: The Brooklyn Anthem Bash was a great success, and we crowned local crooner Rachel Lee Walsh the winner (details here). At left you’ll see Brenna and me pulling off our applause-o-meter portion of the evening in front of local band Mancie. Thanks to all who came out!

In other news, I delivered my first feature in the current issue of Psychology Today! You can see a preview here. I’ll eventually get a PDF on my clips page. Ah, it’s an uphill battle.

Lastly, your daily dose of nostalgia: Two years ago yesterday, Stuff Hipsters Hate was born! And three years ago tomorrow, I moved to this fair city. New York, you’re crazy and unpredictable and spastic and I love you.

First things first! Tomorrow, Friday, is the last day to enter our super awesome Brooklyn Anthem Bash contest!! Any unsigned Brooklyn band can enter any original song (new or already released) for a chance to play in front of a rad panel of judges and to win 10 hours of studio time with an engineer. Doooo iiiiit.

Second, good news in the family: My big sister Julia, who writes the brilliant blog BookStalker (whereby she attends multiple readings a week and reports back on them for all us lazy lit-lovers) had a short story published in the quarterly lit mag In Digest! You can read it here. As if that weren’t exciting enough, Fiction Daily chose it as their “long” lit pick of the day! You can see that here! Holy cow, congrats, sister! The story is a chapter in her almost-complete novel-in-stories, which is itself an incredible read. A few years from now you’ll all be seeing it on the bestseller lists.

Third, shout-out to my first commenters! Friend-since-I-was-a-newborn Jesse Eloranta, who writes Behind the Willows, just got new pigs on her farm and makes me want to hightail it to Wisconsin to play with them. Pal Sammy Davis, proprietor of Sammy Davis Vintage,  loves talking site design. Thanks, guys!

Lastly, a quick CNN recap (although our editor swears the archives page will be up and running soon, making my manual documentation obsolete). Last week B taught us exhibitionist way to freeze-frame your life: Capture summer memories with these photo apps Then I got real, real picky (and, yes, a bit arbitrary) about thank-you-note-iquette: When It’s OK to Say Thank-You via Email. I couldn’t solve the age-old enigma of whether it’s polite or annoying to answer a helpful email with nothing but “Thanks!”. Discuss.

Happy Friday! We’re finally coming up on a few consecutive days without rain. It’s pretty much my favorite time of year (as well as “the allergy apocalypse,” as my allergist noted this morning).

Our CNN column this week was, once again, thinly veiled self-berating: How, and Why, To Do a Facebook Detox. It’s amazing how 40 minutes between deciding to go to bed and slamming my laptop closed can slip into the Facebook black hole. Apparently 1,200+ CNN readers agreed — enough to share the story on their walls, heh.

Tomorrow morning I’m speaking on a two-person panel at the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) conference about pitching health stories. It’s all the way in Midtown West at 8:30, so I very much hope people show.

Hey, just for those of you keeping track at home:

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#notwhining

I made an appearance on the Chicago-based radio show The Mancow Show yesterday. (Their homepage isn’t working right now, which could point to site maintenance or could indicate the show has imploded. These seem equally likely.) The producers rescheduled on me three (3) times and I was asked on-air if “it’s legal to shoot a hipster.” So I’ll just point to this and clear my throat and move on.

Also, I wanted to point to our last few CNN columns, as requests for an archives page have proved futile:

The Do’s and Don’ts of Job Hunting Online (4/20)

Don’t Be Offended by Online Dating Rejection (4/13)

Beware, Ninjas, of How You Name Yourself Online (4/6)

Alright, /whining into a blog entry field. I’m settled in at Modca with four novel-writing friends, all tapping away steadily, and I’m determined to hit page 70 on my screenplay. Wish me luck.

 

Two big news bits.

First off, Chicago was just fabulous. We spoke at a headlining event for Northwestern University’s Sex Week. Though we managed to sound delirious in a preview in NU Intel and rambly in a recap in North By Northwestern, the talk really was a blast — the audience was eager to laugh and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Thanks so much to everyone who came! And to our gallant volunteers, MJ and Hillary! Good times.

The other Very Important Announcement: Stuff Hipsters Hate and brilliant start-up Nabewise have teamed up to present the Brooklyn Album Bash! We’re unspeakably excited. Basically, we got sick of Empire State of Mind and all those other silly Manhattan-centric tunes and decided Brooklyn needs an anthem of its own. So we’re hosting a contest for unsigned Brooklyn bands. The challenge is to pen the definitive Brooklyn anthem. The prize? A sweet 10 hour recording session at Let ‘Em In studio in Park Slope.

The four finalists (I’m skipping over some steps here so do visit the link) will perform, battle-of-the-bands style, on Sunday, June 5, at Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg, and yes, I’ve already picked out my dress. So. Pumped.