W E E K  T W O :

A Word From Anita Liberty:

       compromise

{Lowering my
             standards.

 So you can meet them.}


EXCERPT FROM ANITA LIBERTY'S DIARY

Felt kind of depressed today.  Gee.  I wonder why.  So I called a
friend from college who I hadn't talked to in a while.  Cheryl.  
She's married.  My married friends freak me out a little bit.  
They get married and all of a sudden their husbands are their best
friends and they have all kinds of secrets that they can't tell you
and you wouldn't understand because you're not married.  Then when 
you call, they make you talk to their husbands when you only called
to talk to them.  They start talking about having babies when you
call to talk about yourself.  They start trying to have babies.  
That's all they talk about, how much sex they have to have and when.
Like I need to hear about that.  And then, God forbid, it works and
they get pregnant.  That's all they talk about.  They have the baby.
That's all they talk about.  Then, when you call, you have to talk to
their husbands and their infant children and when you finally have 
them on the phone, alone, they have to go because their husbands just
got home
or the baby just got up
or the baby needs to be fed
or the baby did something cute.

Not that cute.


ADVICE FROM ANITA LIBERTY

                                  When your self-esteem is low, 
          do not call someone who has rejected you in the past. 
                The chance that that person will say something 
                        that will make you feel worse is great. 
                  The chance that that person will say exactly 
                      what it is that you need to hear is slim.


Just because I give advice doesn't mean I follow it.


EXCERPT FROM ANITA LIBERTY'S DIARY

My sister Hope's wedding shower was this afternoon.  Seemed to go
pretty well.  I had asked everyone to dress up like a different time
of day and night and then bring a present that related to that time.
Some women came in nightgowns, some in robes, sweats, exercise clothes,
business suits, and little black evening dresses.  Each of them was 
wearing a tag that had a time of day/night written on it, a time that
corresponded to their outfits.  I wore jeans and a t-shirt.  My time was 
"4:00 a.m."  I'm an artist.  Everything was going fine until Alicia 
(my younger sister's friend from work) asked me out loud, from across 
the room, in front of everybody, while my sister was opening a present, 
"So, Anita, what's going on in your love life?  Any wedding bells 
ringing for you?  Are you and that guy...what was his name...Michael,
Matthew, Marvin...going to go for it?"  "His name is Mitchell," I 
replied icily.  "Oh, that's right, Mitchell.  So are you getting
ready to follow in your younger sister's footsteps?"  My sister
tried unsuccessfully to intervene...  but I stopped her.  "We broke
up, Alicia.  Mitchell and I broke up."  Alicia seemed appropriately 
sympathetic...  for a minute.  "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."  And 
then: "And didn't you just turn thirty?"  What circle of Hell have I
entered?  "Yes, Alicia, I did just turn thirty."  "And you're not dating
anyone?"  "No, Alicia, I'm not dating anyone."  "Wow. 
That's got to be tough.  Ooooh, Hope, is that from Victoria's Secret?  
I love that."  I'm going to have to kill Alicia.  Soon.




Use of this excerpt from How to Heal the Hurt by Hating by Anita Liberty may 
be made only for purposes of promoting the book, with no changes, editing, or 
additions whatsoever, and must be accompanied by the following copyright notice:  
Copyright ©1998 Suzanne Weber.  All Rights Reserved.