Marisa LaScala: Writer, Editor, and Good Addition to Your Bar Trivia Team

For Working Mother's August/September Issue, I...

...profiled entrepreneur Erin Black, whose daughter inspired her to create a line of stuffed monster toys (but friendly ones). Read at the link, or see the PDF below.

...asked stand-up comedian Maryellen Hooper if her chosen profession was conducive to being a working mother.

...figured out how working moms can apply the back-to-school mindset to their own jobs, and why that's beneficial. 

...discovered why women are more likely to cry at work, why that's okay, and how to keep the tears from flowing. 

...investigated why high-achieving women are also the most stressed, and what they can do about it. 

...rounded up the best products for working mothers, including a stylish bento salad bowl, a Vera Bradley bag you can take to the office, and a battery charger that doesn't look like one.

...asked the USTA about their working parent business resource group.

...found the best business, career, and inspirational books to read this month. 

This is a little old, but for the Winter 2014 issue of New York Weddings, I did a round-up of venues in repurposed buildings like an old foundry, a 1920s tycoon's office, and even a president's house.

The Second-Lives Club

A farm, a post office, a millinery, a chorizo factory, and other converted spaces that make for picturesque party spots.

The Former Metal Foundry:
The Foundry
In the 1800s, the Albra Metal Foundry melted scraps of metal to recast for the city’s many manufacturers. Today the 2,000-square-foot building still retains its industrial roots with tons of exposed brick throughout the multilevel space, original ovens and cauldrons, and an abundance of ivy growing along the outside and in the courtyard. The chimney shafts are all original, and one of them actually contains the bridal suite. (With a simple padded bench, a few mirrors, and a skylight, this space is meant for touch-ups and a quick respite, not an overnight stay.) The indoor space can fit 200 guests for a cocktail party or up to 125 for a sit-down dinner. Rental fees, which cover twelve hours, range from $5,200 to $11,200 for the main space; couples must book their own caterers. Because dates in peak months get booked quickly, the venue recommends reserving fourteen to eighteen months in advance. 42-38 9th St., Long Island City; 718-786-7776; thefoundry.info.

Click through to read the rest of the article on the website of New York. 

Photo credit: Laura Ryan Photography/The Foundry

This month, on Working Mother's website, I...

...interviewed Chris Nee, the creator/showrunner of Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins (and she was the best). 

...asked fathers for important things they learned during their paternity leaves. It made it clear that dads should definitely stay home, too, if they can.

...rounded up the most extreme donuts in the country for National Donut Day, then found options for 11 healthy desk-drawer snacks to keep on-hand instead. 

...created a head-to-toe guide for staying comfortable at work while pregnant. 

...shopped for the best work life accessories for spring. 

...lamented that Mothers' Equal Pay Day comes even later in the year than Women's Equal Pay Day. 

...asked doctors for posture tips for working, even if you have a newfangled standing desk. 

...recapped Working Mother Media's amazing 2015 Multicultural Women National Conference. 

This month on Bustle, I...

...read way too much into the (possible) symbolic meaning behind Felicia, the waitress with the scars, on True Detective. 

...learned I wasn't the only one with crazy True Detective theories. 

...wrote an ode to True Detective's Paul Woodrugh, the show's true underdog. 

...made a case for why Halt and Catch Fire deserves another season (love you, Cameron).

...speculated about some of the (many, many) cameos in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and (fewer) returning castmembers for the last Teen Nick episodes of Degrassi. 

...figured out the real-life musical inspirations behind Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, including Denis Leary himself and his previous hit single.

...explained how non-Stewart, non-Hamilton Dean Geistlinger fits into Stewarts & Hamiltons, and what his (surprisingly big) claim to fame is.

...researched who plays Jim Gaffigan's wife on The Jim Gaffigan Show (and how she compares to her real-life counterpart),who plays Fin's (replacement) daughter on Sharknado 3 (since you never know—the last daughter is now the star of the Jem and the Holograms movie), and who is the host of VH1's Twinning (spoiler alert: she's not a twin).   

...found a clue that suggests Laura Prepon will return next year on Orange Is the New Black. (But will it just be a flashback/dream sequence?) 

...explained to viewers what to expect from Spike's Tut.

...told fans of the brothers Winchester that they'll have to wait for a while still before Supernatural season 10 comes to Netflix, but there are other movies they can stream in the meantime if they need a fix.

Recently on Bustle, I...

...wondered if True Detective's Ray Velcoro could be the new Rust Cohle.

...came up with some theories about what True Detective's mysterious Black Mountain could be (though I'm pretty sure my first guess is correct).

...praised Orange Is the New Black for forcing its actresses to use different creative muscles, like taking singer Annie Golden and making her character near-mute.  

...speculated about whether or not Fake Off, The Comedians, and Happyish will be renewed for more seasons. 

...explored Boom! host Tom Papa's friendships with Seinfeld and Soderbergh.

Image: Lacey Terrell/HBO

Part of the reason I've been so behind in posting my clips is that I've started a new, full-time job as a writer and editor at Working Mother magazine. Already, I've had some interesting assignments, including...

...showing how Mad Men's Matthew Weiner is a champion of working mothers. 

...finding the companies with the most extreme maternity leaves. 

...asking a host of HuffPost Live about naming her daughter after herself. 

...finding the most enviable programs for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

...looking into the gender wage gap for Equal Pay Day.

...decoding the Supreme Court's ruling on pregnancy discrimination.

...highlighting why mompreneurs are important to the business community and shouldn't be ignored.

...soliciting advice from an expert on what women need to do for a personal finance tune-up.

...asking a professional organizer how to de-clutter for spring cleaning. 

...talking with a participant in Habitat for Humanity's Women Build Week about how the organization benefits working moms.

...offering advice to kids—and parents—separating for sleep-away camp for the first time and taking care of pets for first-time owners.

...rounding up the best spring work/life accessories, confidence-boosting books, Earth Day board games, Cinco de Mayo books, Memorial Day cookout must-haves, and gifts for elementary school grads and high school grads.

For one of the last assignments I had at my old job, I was asked to write about what it was like to be raised by hippies as part of a feature package about Baby Boomers. You can read it here, or download the PDF below. 

I've been behind in posting my Bustle articles—very behind—but here are some of my favorite posts I've done in the meantime:

Mad Men Season 7 Premiere "Severance" Has An Ominous Title, But Does It Actually Tell Us Anything?

15 Selina Meyer Quotes That Prove The President (Yeah, President!) Has The Perfect Thing To Say In Every Situation

As Justified Rides Off Into The Sunset, Here's What's Going Ro Be Missed The Most

Aquarius Lead Sam Hodiak Vs. Fox Mulder: They Have More Than David Duchovny In Common

Halt And Catch Fire Season 2 Emphasizes The Women Of The Show & We Couldn't Be More Excited

Here are the rest of the TV shows I've covered since I last posted:

AD: The Bible Continues (2); Agent Carter (2, 3); American Odyssey; The Americans; Aquarius (2, 3); Battle Creek; Between; Black-ish; The Blacklist;  Blood, Sweat, and Heels; Brides Gone Styled; Catfish; The Casual Vacancy; Cleveland Abduction; The Critics' Choice Awards; The 87th Academy Awards (2); Dancing with the Stars; Empire (2, 3, 4); Gotham; 500 Questions; Forever; Halt and Catch Fire; Hindsight; The Josh Wolf Show; Lake Placid vs. Anaconda; Labor Games; The Last Man on Earth (2); Little Women: NY (2); The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2); Mad Men; The  Making of the Mob: New York (2); The Messengers; MTV's Scream; New Girl (2, 3); Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards; Orange Is the New Black; Parks and Recreation; The Prancing Elites; Proof; The Returned (2); Saturday Night Live (2, 3); Seeds of Yesterday; Sense8; Shark Tank; Stitchers; Sons of Winter; Swab Stories; Texas Rising; 'Til Death Do Us Part; The Tony Awards; 12 Monkeys; Turn: Washington's Spies (2); Undateable; Weird Loners; The Willis Family

I also got to spoil Fifty Shades of Grey for people who didn't want to watch the movie and just wanted to know if the ending deviated from the book.

Image: Justina Mintz/AMC

For its 1995-themed week, The A.V. Club let me write about one of my favorite film subgenres: mid-'90s internet paranoia movies. 

1995 Marked the Birth of Internet-Paranoia Films

"...The internet and virtual-reality films of 1995 also show the emergence of a problem that filmmakers are still struggling with today: how to represent a digital world on screen. You can see early attempts to create some sort of cohesive visual language to stand in for the internet. Status bars, for example, are used in more than one of these movies as a quick way to ratchet up tension; the heroes have to wait until the bar reaches 100 percent before they can flee to safety. It’s a cheap thrill, and one we sadly haven’t outgrown yet.

Mostly, though, attempts to create a new look for the internet are hideous, trafficking in cheesy, psychedelic swirls of numbers and symbols and environments that look like video games circa Nintendo 64. Hackers andVirtuosity both fall victim to the allure of pop-art colors: Virtuosity makes is virtual exit quickly, bringing SID 6.7 into the real world, but Hackers often goes into the “architecture” of circuitry, with skyscrapers of squares and rectangles standing in for the systems they’re trying to break into, and dreamy-looking equations standing in for the data they want to collect. Today, it looks dated..."

Click through to read the full essay at The A.V. Club, or download the PDF.