You've discovered one of the numerous online homes of Mary Elizabeth Williams. (If virtual real estate had monetary value, I'd be Donald Trump.) I'm a writer, consultant, and online community host with about a thousand years experience, give or take a century. The publications I've written for include The New York Times, The New York Observer, Salon.com, TV Guide, Smith, and Yoga Journal. I'm the culture critic for Public Radio International's terrific new morning show The Takeaway. I also host Table Talk, the reader community of Salon.com, and cohost the pop culture and byline conferences on the WELL. My first book, Gimme Shelter: True Tales from the Bubble will be published by Simon & Schuster in March, 2009.

                                                                  photo by Bill Wadman

You can read my blog on LiveJournal for up-to-the-minute opinions and obsessions, or see why I stick to words with my Flickr photostream.

Want to get in touch with me? I have email too. Looking for the opera singer Mary Elizabeth Williams? She's maryelizabethwilliams.com.

Mary Elizabeth's law: There are two kinds of food -- those that can be improved with bacon, and those that can be improved with chocolate.

Mary Elizabeth's paradox: And yet, bacon and chocolate do not mix.

Mary Elizabeth's addendum: But butter goes with everything.

Like most people, I'm deeply cynical. Like most people, I'm also secretly optimistic.

Enough about me. Tell me about you. I'm sure there's a story.