My Dubai stalker and why I moved to New Jersey at TueNight

I'm a Tuesday late in letting you know that I've written some essays at the new site TueNight, which updates, yes, every Tuesday. The first was for their bravery issue: "What I Learned From My Stalker" about last year's trip to Dubai, and the second is for this week's Escape issue: "Why FOMO Made Me Move to New Jersey." They're a new site and have some amazing content, so check them out. They're aimed at women 38+, which I will be in less than two months.

Photos and review of Dubai ice bar Chill Out Lounge

I wrote up my visit to ice bar Chill Out Lounge in Dubai for Huffington Post Travel (I meant 21.20 ºF not -21.20 ºF). I'd included all the photos below in my submission but I don't see them on the site, so here they are! I love travel and have my heart set on going to the Ice Hotel in December 2013, I want to learn about travel writing as best I can and someday I hope to get published by sites like Fathom (I actually submitted this piece there but didn't hear back), but who knows? I'm learning, every single day, how to be a freelance writer.

Ice ice bar, baby

Oops, wrote this the other day and thought it had posted (I can't access this actual blog in Dubai, like many sites, it's blocked, so I just noticed).

Whirlwind day in Dubai, the first day I've gotten up at a relatively normal hour, despite crazy insomnia that had me up finishing Valerie Frankel's hilarious 2004 novel The Not-So-Perfect Man (also hilarious is how dated references can be in just 8 years, which is not a knock on Valerie at all, I highly recommend the novel and it was a perfect, sweet, funny vacation read). Anyway, I did manage to get up and greet the day and visit a beautiful ice bar, Chill Out (my first time at at ice bar but certainly not my last), which I plan to write about, geeked out at a Sanrio store, used my new cell phone to set up some cool appointments and then visited another mall, where I learned that Borders isn't just alive and well, it's touting Fifty Shades of Grey. And I took photos of Ski Dubai, the indoor ski park. And being a good New Yorker, if not a good tourist, I went to Shake Shack. I even wrote some Skype erotica in between my running around. Also, I love the Dubai Metro. It's clean, easy to follow and they announce in text and loudspeaker what the next station is, in Arabic and English. That's all for now.


chilling out at Chill Out

I rode a sand dune buggy and a camel in the desert!

It's my last day in Dubai, so there'll be much more about it this week, and have had a great time and done some scary things, like ride a sand dune buggy. I almost refused because I'm scared of cars but it was exhilarating and fun and a little scary. The second photo I took myself while I paused after a big dune. And I rode a camel too. And got to go on a gorgeous boat cruise that was the best thing I did in Dubai. The water felt amazing, hot and soothing and wonderful. If you are ever in Dubai, check out the boats leaving from the Dubai Marina Yacht Club, and get a group together. The breeze and sun and views were all stunning and perfect. I felt so lucky that someone I met who was celebrating her birthday just invited me within thirty minutes of meeting me. Dubai is like that, in my experience; a few people went out of their way to be nice to me (and others did so in an icky way, which I will be writing about shortly).

Hear me read from Fifty Shades of Grey Tuesday, October 2nd in NYC at 50 Shades of Banned

I'll be reading from Fifty Shades of Grey Tuesday night in celebration of banned books. All the details are on Facebook and at Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

On October 2, celebrate Banned Books Week with an evening of stirring readings from erotic classics at Fifty Shades of Banned: A Celebration of Erotic Literature. The event starts at 8 PM at the Village Pourhouse on 64 3rd Ave (11th Street Entrance, across from Webster Hall) and benefits New York free speech charities National Coalition Against Censorship and Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

If one thing attracts the attention of the would-be censor, it’s sex. Depictions of sexuality in books, comics, art and film have drawn the eager attentions of Vice Squads and Morality Police since long before the days of Anthony Comstock. Those censorship challenges continue to this day, and are fought by the important work of NCAC and CBLDF.

Fifty Shades of Banned will take place at the Village Pourhouse on 3^rd Avenue in the East Village on Tuesday, October 2 at 8 p.m. The event will feature dramatic readings from censored lit including The Story of O, Joe Blow, Howl, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and Fifty Shades of Grey by sexologist and author Dr. Logan Levkoff, erotica author Rachel Kramer Bussel, comedy group MURDERFIST and more.

Come for the classic smut, stay for a chance to win a signed copy of Fifty Shades or other exciting raffle prizes courtesy of Babeland. All door donations and raffle proceeds will go to benefit free speech defenders NCAC and CBLDF and therefore ensure that we all have access to stimulating lit for years to come.

Who: The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund & the National Coalition Against Censorship
Where: The Village Pourhouse, 64 3rd Ave in the East Village
When: Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8 p.m., doors open at 7:30
How Much: $10 suggested door donation, includes raffle ticket
Featuring: Banned Books, 2 for 1 Abita Beers, $5 Fat Tuesday menu of hurricanes, hand grenades, po’ boys and jambalaya.
For more information, visit Blogging Censorship (http://ncacblog.wordpress.com/), www.cbldf.org

Interestingly, there've been articles saying that while Fifty Shades of Grey was available in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed weren't for sale until recently. I have seen them in multiple stores, including Kinokuniya at Dubai Mall, and Borders and Virgin Megastore (which live on in Dubai).


Fifty Shades of Grey at Borders at Mall of the Emirates




Fifty Shades of Grey at Kinokuniya at The Dubai Mall