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Salon

I finally found my dad — drunk on skid row

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]   Cary’s classic column from Thursday, Aug 25, 2011 05:20 PM PDT I thought I could bring him home, but he got loaded and disappeared Dear Cary, Recently — within the past couple of months — I went on a search to find my father. I can count how many times I’ve seen him in my life and...

My new boyfriend’s mom has cancer

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  [button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]   Hi Cary, I am seeing a great guy, but things have recently become very ambiguous between us and I’m not sure the best course of action for me. We were dating for a little over two months, it was a slowly deepening fantastic and mature relationship, and I care for him...

Inherited money turned my friends into idiots

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]   Cary’s classic column from Thursday, Apr 28, 2011 Since they got suddenly rich, all they talk about is how hard it is to get good help Hi, Cary – In a nutshell, the problem is that my three best friends have all inherited substantial money in the past two years. My husband and I...

Can we flee my husband’s family?

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Cary’s classic column from Sep 3, 2009 They’ll drive us crazy if we stay. We want to move to Colorado! Dear Cary, This is hardly a new topic, but here goes. My husband and I have been married about a year and a half. We met, instantly fell in love and got married a short time later. We are in our mid-30s and know ourselves well, so there was no reason to wait. And we are crazy happy with...

My brother retreated to a basement apartment with his dog

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from Thursday, May 26, 2005 He’s had some tough blows lately, but I’m concerned he’s really losing it. Dear Cary, My younger brother, 40, is an anxious, depressed social recluse. He lives with his dog in a basement apartment alone. He never answers...

I grew up poor but my boyfriend has money

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from Monday, Jul 24, 2006 If we were to marry, could we make it work? Dear Cary, I’ve been dating a good man for the last seven months. We have loads of fun together; we’re both creative types who pursue our passions in our own time while working at jobs related to...

Our friend got drunk and went to a hotel room with a bunch of Marines

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2008 We think she’s out of control, and we think she should tell her boyfriend. Dear Cary, I am writing to you to get advice about a friend of mine who has some rather troubling issues that I fear may one day turn into very serious issues...

After years of being meek, I’m suddenly screaming at people!

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from Tuesday, Nov 6, 2007 My father was full of rage and insult, and I sat mute through his tirades. Now I’m exploding at people too. Dear Cary, So I grew up in an abusive household. Not the “my dad gets drunk and smashes a lamp over my mother’s head” kind of...

“I hate everybody!” plus Cary rambles on about rambling on

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Dear Reader, I thought that every time I do a column I would write something but today I don’t really want to write anything about myself. I really do not like writing about myself. Or do I? Actually, what happens is that initially writing about myself is frustrating because I do...

Vibrators and the man

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column WEDNESDAY, JAN 22, 2003 12:05 PM PST My husband “goes at it” with porn and sex toys right in front of me! Dear Cary, Lately, my husband of 10 years has developed a fascination (obsession?) with video porn and vibrating sex toys. He says he’s sick of...

I can’t get home to see my mom before she dies

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Cary’s classic column from WEDNESDAY, JUL 25, 2007   By the time you read this, she’ll probably be gone. Why couldn’t I be by her side?   Dear Cary, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and need advice. So here I am. I’ll cut to the point: My 63-year-old mother will most likely be deceased by the time you receive this. After a number of years battling multiple sclerosis, the drugs...

My abusive husband is dying and I have a lover. How good do I have to be?

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column Tuesday, JUL 21, 2003 What do I owe him? Dear Cary, Last year I went to visit a divorce lawyer, having finally got up the nerve to end a 29-year marriage (I’m 49) to a physically and emotionally abusive man. I had been seeing a wonderful man for some time, and we...

The ballad of Jack and Oksana

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column WEDNESDAY, JUL 2, 2003 My friend is married to a beautiful Russian woman, but I see a train wreck in their future. Dear Cary, A friend of mine has a problem, and I am not sure how to help him. I recently returned to the United States from two years in Russia. While...

In which Cary Tennis attempts to revive the spirit of the questing, searching essay form while maintaining token loyalty to the old, reliable advice column

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  Am I doing it right?   [button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]   Dear Reader, When I was writing the Since You Asked advice column for Salon.com, I often would meander from the “given” form in ways that some readers found aesthetically displeasing. They were experiencing genre shock. (As though...

Doctor in love

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column Tuesday,  NOV 4, 2003 10:29 AM PST I had a crush on a colleague, and now she wants to be friends, but I don’t. How do I get rid of her? Dear Cary, I’m a Salon reader from Mexico and I enjoy reading your column very much. Now I need your advice. I am a medical...

The bride kept the money!

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from MONDAY, JUN 20, 2005 A snafu on bridesmaids dresses resulted in a refund to the bride — but she never passed it on to the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. Dear Cary, A little over a month ago, I was one of eight bridesmaids in my brother’s wedding. The...

I need support from my brothers in a messy divorce

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  [button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]   Hi Cary, Your column spoke to a writer’s heart. It encouraged. It gave strength. It had passion and power. It would be lovely if you would continue to offer advice. That said, I need some support and advice. I’m in the midst of a contentious divorce. Friends started...

I’m a gay man in a small town working at a gas station. So?

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column Tuesday, Mar 18, 2008 I have a feeling maybe I should move to the city, but I like my job, I like my town and I like my family. Dear Cary, I have several concurrent problems for you. Bet you can’t wait. Firstly, my job … I work in a small gas station as a cashier...

My boyfriend’s climbing partner let him fall

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from Apr 20, 2007 Accidents happen. He was inexperienced. But he’s not owning up. In fact he’s sort of acting like a dick! Cary, My longtime boyfriend and I went on a holiday in Colorado with a bunch of others, which included ice-climbing practice. My...

My creepy dad emails too much

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]   Cary’s classic column fromWednesday, Nov 21, 2012 He was a terrible father and I want him out of my life Hi, Cary, Growing up, my dad was verbally and emotionally abusive.  He became physically abusive toward my brother but stuck to mind games with my mother and me.  In eighth...

How to handle my friend’s engagement?

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  [button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button]     Hello Cary, I am writing on how to think about a new situation. Some background: I briefly “dated” a man back in 2005. It was a long distance thing since I met him on a trip in another country, so for better or worse, we were as best friends. When our...

My family is feuding about politics

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from MONDAY, MAR 16, 2009 We’ve got Republicans, we’ve got liberals, and it’s getting ugly. Dear CT, Like many extended families, ours has people who live and breathe Republican doctrine, and people who are liberal. Since the early Bush years, we have given each...

My girlfriend’s stepfather is a real a-hole … and a dying man

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Cary’s classic column from TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2007   This guy does not respect me or notice me! What can I do? Dear Cary, I am in my late 20s and have, in the last three months, fallen deeply in love with a woman of approximately the same age, in the same neighborhood practically. We have a wonderful relationship and became strongly attached to each other almost immediately. I could see myself...

I know my co-worker’s evil secrets — because I was his therapist!

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Cary’s classic column from FRIDAY, JUN 15, 2007   I’m aghast to find I’ll be sharing an office with a man whom — for good but confidential reasons — I utterly detest.   Dear Cary, I need your perspective on an issue that may not have a solution that I will ever find satisfying … but here goes. I recently started working for a new employer and I have been very happy in...

My molester financed my college education

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Archival column from WEDNESDAY, JAN 9, 2008 Now I’m depressed and suicidal and very few people know why. Cary, I am unsure of how to articulate the reason I am writing you. There is an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote, “In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.” I have been experiencing a soul-crushing depression that I can only utter through vague quotes and...

Breaking Down the Breakup (I think I should leave but I’m not sure how)

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  [button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Dear Cary, I have been reading your letters for years, and usually I can find plenty of guidance through your responses to others. This time, I would like your thoughts directly. I am a divorced mom of an elementary school child. I was married for a long time, and got divorced...

I let my friends stay with me and now they’re evicting me!

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from MONDAY, SEP 10, 2007   This couple is about to have a baby and there’s no room for me — but it’s my place!   Dear Cary, About three years ago, a good friend of mine from college needed a place to live … fast. As it turned out, I...

I stood on principle and was harshly reprimanded

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Cary’s classic column from MONDAY, JUN 16, 2008 I refuse to apologize for taking a stand that is in the best interests of the company. Dear Cary, I am having a little difficulty knowing where the line dividing personal assistant and administrative staff lies. I’ve been harshly reprimanded for questioning or challenging a principal on a matter that I felt was an abuse of company resources and the...

My business trip ended with me in four-point restraints!

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  Cary’s classic column from THURSDAY, JUN 5, 2008 I drank some wine, took my pills, boarded the plane and woke up on a gurney! Dear Cary, I am writing to you because I have been through what feels like a very traumatic experience and I need to find a way to put it behind me. Recently, I was on a flight from my local airport to another destination for work purposes. The flight was to be...

The strange case of midnight renegade oleander gentrification camouflage

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  Cary’s classic column fromTHURSDAY, MAR 27, 2008 To disguise a neighbor’s less-than-pristine house, she planted a hedge on the other person’s land!   Dear Cary, We live next door to an elderly lady who owns her home, and has for well over 40 years. The home has fallen into serious disrepair, and neither she nor her very ill live-at-home son can keep up with the maintenance...

She asked for a divorce, then found a lump in her breast

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  Cary’s classic column from MONDAY, DEC 22, 2008   I’ve been dating her husband, but now she wants him back!     Dear Cary, For the past seven months, I have been dating and falling in love with a man who is in the final stages of his divorce. After six years of marriage, it’s been a year and a half since they were together. Throughout their marriage she’d repeatedly cheated...

I lost my engagement ring — and secretly replaced it at Wal-Mart

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Cary’s classic column from THURSDAY, JUN 1, 2006 Cary, I have a problem that I don’t know how to fix. Three years ago, a year after I became engaged, I lost my engagement ring. While I was camping with my fiancé and two friends, we decided to take a walk in the water by the beach. As a...

Can our marriage survive infertility and depression?

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[button link=”mailto:[email protected]” newwindow=”yes”] Write for Advice[/button] Dear Cary, I wrote to you once about seven years ago — I was a faithful column reader before and until now. Your advice was spot on, and now I find myself in a heartbreaking situation that I hope you will shed your light on. My husband and I have been married for six years. We have...

My boss throws herself on the floor when unhappy

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  Cary’s classic column from Thursday, Jan 26, 2012   She berates! She glares! She makes backhanded comments about your lunch selection! Shouldn’t I, uh, say something?   Dear Cary, My boss is insane. I know people say that a lot but I’m pretty sure I win. I recently started working for someone who I thought was an extravagant and eccentric designer, but instead I find out that she...

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