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Michelle Kennedy

Michelle Kennedy

Michelle Kennedy is a writer and lecturer in the Multimedia Communications Department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She lives in Santa Monica and commutes to San Francisco once a week.

Blog Posts

  • April 27, 2012

    Love Lessons: What Does Love Look Like?

    For our second date, Byron suggested a hike through Runyon Canyon. We’d enjoyed a nice dinner the week before, and I looked forward to getting to know him better, so I said yes without hesitation.

    I put on my green hiking pants and sandals, sun-blocked my face, and headed out. As we walked through the gates and onto the trail with sun shining on our faces, possibility swirled in the dust around my feet.

    Then, about thirty-seconds later, the dust settled when Byron suggested we “run the entire trail.” Now, I’m not opposed to running, but I thought we were hiking and getting to know each other, so my hiking sandals and lack of a sports bra were certainly not going to cut it on a steep trail run, and I knew this.

    I also, of course, just wanted to get to know Byron, and thought it would be lovely to just chill, walk with his dog, and talk amidst the dozens of people walking behind and in front of us.

  • February 13, 2012

    Love Lessons: Turning Valentine's Day Around

    Valentine’s Day is, of course, the best holiday if you are in love and the worst if you are not. Which is why I dreaded writing this blog at first. I am not in love at this particular moment (unless you count my new laptop), so I didn’t know what to write about.

    Then, in the middle of penning a thank you card to my writing coach for helping me with some difficult work, it hit me. Why not make Valentine’s Day about expressing love and gratitude to the people we generally don’t take the time to gush over?

    My Love Fest 2012 began with the purchase of a thirty-pack of Valentine’s Day cards. I wanted to start with writing a card to my brother, but couldn’t find the words, so I wrote one to my spinning teacher instead. Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but it isn’t. My teacher, Jeff Wells, has such a beautiful energy about him; he has a wait list sometimes twenty deep. This is no exaggeration.

  • December 15, 2011

    Love Lessons: My Quest to Find Mr. Right Online...Continues

    Going on dates is like going on auditions. I run around my apartment like Jojo the Circus Clown looking for the perfect outfit. I meticulously paint my face to the point where I feel I’m qualified to star in a Lancome commercial.

    I run out the door early (which is unheard of for me). On my last pass by the mirror, I tell myself, “You should make yourself look this good every day.” Then of course, I go back to getting ready in forty minutes, because who is taking two hours every time? Come on.

  • November 15, 2011

    Love Lessons: My Quest to Find Mr. Right Goes Online

    I wish so badly that I could meet my husband in the cantaloupe aisle at the grocery store. I would drop a melon by his foot, and we would knock heads trying to pick it up. I would also like to meet him on a romantic run on the beach. Mesmerized by the sunset, I wouldn't see him, and we would bump shoulders as we passed each other. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I would say. And as the sun glistens on my teeth, he would fall in love.

    I also want to re-enact the scene from Sex and the City where Charlotte stumbles in the street and Trey picks her up. But at age thirty-five, I’m beginning to realize none of these scenarios are likely to happen. I’ve accepted that my one and only will not knock on my door and shout, “I’m here!”

    So I’ve decided to try online dating.

Maria Shriver © 2012. All rights reserved.

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