Jan 19, 2020In Praise of Our Kitchen TableWhen I originally rented my current Brooklyn apartment, it was for a feature that an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers aren’t blessed with: a large, south-facing, eat-in kitchen. For the first six months or so, I went without a kitchen table because I ate all of my meals either in…Celebrity Funiture4 min readCelebrity Funiture4 min read
Aug 29, 2018Two Tuesdays BackWhen my mother died, the social worker at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles where she passed away gave my dad a brochure for a spousal loss therapy group. Since I just happened to be the last sibling to leave town to go back home, my dad suggested we go together…Death5 min readDeath5 min read
Oct 24, 2017Confessions Of A Hollywood GhostwriterWritten by Robert Schwartz While most kids growing up wanted to be a cop or an astronaut, Jason Porta wanted to be a sitcom writer. Jason didn’t just watch TV shows, he waited for the credits to see who wrote or produced the series, then memorized the names. …Screenwriter17 min readScreenwriter17 min read
Feb 8, 2017I Was A Cable News AddictAt 8:40 PM on November 8, 2016, as the presidential election results were pouring in, I turned off the television and have not watched broadcast or cable news since. While I would not equate this to quitting drugs or alcohol, it’s pretty damn close. Once upon a time, I had…Cable News4 min readCable News4 min read
Published inPersonal Growth·Jul 26, 2016Comic Misadventures In Psychotherapy“I’m sorry, what did you say?” “Excuse me. Could you please repeat that?” “I didn’t understand you. What was the second part of what you asked?” Prior to marrying my wife, every friendship of significance in my life had been with a woman — but platonically. These relationships consisted of…Psychology6 min readPsychology6 min read
Published inPersonal Growth·Jul 4, 2016Not Just Another Deceased Pet Story“He’s 22,” the vet told my wife and me, “it’s time to let him go.” When our cat Santo recently died, my wife Evin and I had been in denial about his behavior those last few days — the not eating, not playing, the hiding. …Divorce7 min readDivorce7 min read
