Adriana M

Joined January 2021

67 stories

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Neuroscientist, writer, renaissance woman .

instagram: @kindmindedadri

Stories (67)

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The Rocker Chick's Anti-Valentine's Playlist.
Ah, Valentine’s day. You either love it, or you hate it. And let’s be honest, the feeling varies depending on where you stand that particular year. You may be in one of the following stages:
By Adriana M5 years ago in Beat
Freelance 101: Charge What You Are Worth.
A few years ago, I thought I had found a cool side gig: a freelancing website for science writers. The job seemed straight forward: to revise scientific articles in my field submitted by people who were not native English speakers. It paid a certain amount for grammar editing and offered bonus pay for content evaluation and improvement. I had been writing and submitting my research for years; this should not be too difficult a job, after all, I was not invested in the work, so making cold, clinical corrections should be easy enough. They paid per thousand words, and the rate seemed ok to me. Boy, was I wrong.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Journal
I"m In Love With Johnny Lawrence
It was the summer of 1984. I was twelve years old, and boys started to appear on my radar as more than annoying little pricks. I saw The Karate Kid in the theater at the mall, and it rocked my world. I wanted to be Ali with an i: to be sixteen years old, blonde, curly, with amazing teeth. Instead, I was a short brunette tween with frizzy straight hair in desperate need of braces.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Geeks
Coldness
It's a rainy Saturday night in November. People on the busy street rush by me; it's as if they cannot see me. It's also surprising that no one has bumped me yet, so long I have been standing in the rain like a loser. But I'm holding my position because I found the perfect angle, close enough to the glass to look inside the restaurant but angled enough to the side not to be noticed by the people sitting on the window booth. Funny how the circumstances may change an ordinary guy into a stalker. Over the booth's table, I get an unobstructed view of the bar, where she is sitting. My wife, Barbara. My Barbie. Having drinks, laughing, enjoying herself with another man.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Horror
Panic
Lying in bed, cuddled to him. Feels so great. Doze off. Am I asleep? Then it hits. Panic. Out of nowhere. I can’t breathe. I need air.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Poets
Goddess
As I lie alone in my bed And Morpheus takes me away with his dream sand You appear to me Beautiful, sensual, irresistible goddess
By Adriana M5 years ago in Poets
I Kissed A Girl And I Liked It.
About ten years ago, I got out of an on-again-off-again relationship with a man that would not commit but kept coming back. By the time it finally ended, I was burned out, and it took me more than a year to even consider jumping into the dating pool again. When the time finally came, I had to learn how to use dating apps, and it was not exactly a great experience. Some people enjoy them, and I applaud them, but it is not for me. Nevertheless, some fantastic experiences were possible because of that technology, and one of them was going on dates with women. Most of the apps these days give the option of searching and be searched by men, women, and gender-fluid/gender-neutral people. The most common way to do it is to announce yourself as bisexual. I was not sure if that term applied to me, as I do find women attractive but had not dated any in my forty-plus years, so what gives? One day, I was watching a documentary on different lifestyles when I heard a man describe himself as homoflexible. What he meant was his go-to sexuality is with men, but he is perfectly comfortable having sex with women. I liked the term, and it clicked in my head that I am, in fact, heteroflexible. Now that I had a better understanding of my inclinations, I included women on my dating prospects.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Humans
Complaining is so 2020
I had a cheerful group of friends. It was the highlight of my month to get together with this vibrant group of women to chat, enjoy a potluck, have a glass of wine. Then the coronavirus hit. When the world went virtual, we kept up the meetings via Zoom, and at the beginning, it was not that different; we still had fun. But then I realized I didn't want to join anymore. For a while, I thought it was my mood that kept me from wanting to socialize. I had to travel overseas right at the start of the pandemic to help my mother take care of my sick father, so I assume I was too tired to join (I tell that story in my piece Happiness is My New Year's Resolution).
By Adriana M5 years ago in Motivation
My New Year's Resolution is: I Have None.
Where I come from, people don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Instead, they make New Year’s wishes. And they assure them by performing a series of rituals that look pretty funny from the outside. At the stroke of midnight, the average Colombian household will carry out at least a few of the following practices, if not all of them:
By Adriana M5 years ago in Motivation
Currency of Lies
Vivek stood in front of the panel of judges, hands trembling. This was the moment of truth. The moment when the fifteen-year-old high school student will prove that he was the best of the best. The smartest one in a boarding school that was created to polish the most remarkable young minds in the world. It was the moment to prove that he deserved his place here.
By Adriana M5 years ago in 01
Not Wearing Pants Is So 2020
I want to start by saying that 2020 was a challenging year, but then I risk you rolling your eyes and saying, Duh! With that out of the way, let me tell you about the style fad I can't wait to be gone: the no-pants fashion.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Styled
Should Have Left It Unscripted
Simon sat on a bench behind the repair shop, pulled a sandwich from a brown bag, and cussed as two slices of tomato slipped from it, falling on the grimy floor. He sighed, resigned. This was his luck, always slipping away, forever losing something, never whole. It is not that he loved tomatoes, but his dear aunty Charlotte, the only living relative he had, would always pack him a BLT sandwich that was mostly lettuce and a smidge of bacon to try and get him to eat vegetables. Even at age twenty-two, Simon was still Charlotte's little boy. That thought soothed his shitty mood, and he munched into the sandwich.
By Adriana M5 years ago in Horror