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	<title>Sona Charaipotra</title>
	<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com</link>
	<description>Writer and editor</description>
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		<title>The Reverse Bucket List, One Year Later. Or: What I&#8217;m Most Thankful For&#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
This week, as we all gather our loved ones and our thoughts to give thanks for all the love and luck we’ve received this year, it’s worth taking some time to look back and really take stock.
Last Thanksgiving, to do just that, I created &#8220;a reverse bucket list,&#8221; kind of the opposite of an actual bucket list, which is a rundown of things you’d like to accomplish before you kick the proverbial bucket. The reverse bucket list takes a look back at things that you&#8217;ve already done and are proud of ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/11/24/reverse-bucket-list-year-later-or-thankful-for/</link>
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		<title>Steve Jobs’ Seven Secrets of Success</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
Lately, I&#8217;ve been all about learning how to optimize and grow my small business. But I guess I&#8217;m not the only one looking to the late Steve Jobs for a meaningful message these days.
According to Steve Jobs’ biographer Carmine Gallo, who spoke to 20/20 about the man tonight, here are the Apple founder’s seven principles of success that “anybody can use, to be more successful, to be more innovative, to live an inspired life.”
1. Do What You Love, no matter what it happens to be. “Don’t settle,” said Jobs. “As ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/10/08/steve-jobs%e2%80%99-secrets-success/</link>
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		<title>Book Banning: A Slippery Slope</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dr. Seuss's The Lorax takes a place of pride alongside other censored titles -- including the Hunger Games, Harry Potter and the Perks of Being A Wallflower -- at the American Library Association's Banned Book Week Read-Out tent at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Which just moved it to the top of our reading list for little Kavya. ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/09/30/book-banning-slippery-slope/</link>
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		<title>Where Were You On 9/11? Looking Back Ten Years Later</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
I’ve been dreading today. For week and months, I’ve been avoiding the hype, the news, the tourists, the sorrow. Especially the sorrow. Because it’s so heavy, I feel like I might just drown in it. The weight of being a part of that “where-were-you” moment, the moment that defines my generation, whether you were in New York or Timbuktu.
I was in New York of course. I was on my merry, oblivious way, headed to the center of the city that was the center of the world, coming from the Upper ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/09/11/911/</link>
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		<title>A Look Back at First Semester: Sona’s Finding Her Balance</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


My theme for first semester? Much too much. Much too much work, much  too much reading, much too much paper-writing, much too much time spent  chasing after my baby. Colds, the flu, Levithan-worthy paper-induced  stupors. Panels and workshops and readings, oh my. Much too much of  everything.
And much too little time spent writing.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved every minute of it.
But as I do for everything, I had big expectations for first  semester. Over-blown, over-ambitious, lofty goals. That is just my way.  Big ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/01/30/teenwritersbloc-com-semester-sona%e2%80%99s-finding-balance/</link>
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		<title>Writers Conferences: Plan Ahead to Get the Most Out Of Your Networking Dollars</title>
		<description><![CDATA[


There’s nothing like being amongst your fellow writers to get you  energized about your work — whether it be writing or selling. Luckily,  I’ve got my buddies at the New School’s MFA program to motivate me. But  sometimes you just need that extra kick in the pants (MFA or not).
That’s why writer’s conferences are like a quick fix of creative  adrenaline. A concentrated take on the craft and business of writing,  they can really get the creative juices flowing, and get you right into  ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/01/12/writers-conferences-plan-networking-dollars/</link>
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		<title>Better Late Than Never: New Year’s Resolutions 2011</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I'll save the run-down list for my planner. But this year, I hope to work smarter not harder, to finish what I start, and to slow down and keep in mind what's really important. ]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2011/01/05/late-never-years-resolutions-2011/</link>
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		<title>Does a Baby Really Need a Christmas Present?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
So it&#8217;s Kavya&#8217;s first Christmas. She&#8217;ll be 10 months old, and we&#8217;ll be in California, sans snow, sans tree. Sans celebration? Christmas has always been an odd holiday for my family. We&#8217;re not Christian, by any stretch of the imagination, yet since we got to this country when I was all of 4, we&#8217;ve celebrated. Growing up, we had a tree &#8212; fake and white, with silver accents, bought for five bucks at a garage sale &#8212; and presents and even Christmas cookies. Of course, then there was the signature masala ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2010/12/20/baby-christmas-present/</link>
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		<title>Should Babies Have Their Own Seat on a Plane?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When we first booked our semi-annual trip to California a few months ago, I was worried about how baby Kavya, now 9 months old, would handle the flight. After all, it&#8217;s nine hours across country, trapped in a disease-ridden box with barely enough space to wiggle your toes. (And our return flight is a red-eye. Yikes.)
I hadn&#8217;t been thinking about the plane as a death box, though.
Now, thanks to continued controversy over whether babies should be required to have their own seat on a plane, I have been. Lovely.
My husband ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2010/12/16/babies-seat-plane/</link>
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		<title>“So You Want to Be A Journalist”</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This one rocks, too, especially if you didn&#8217;t go to Columbia J-School.

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		<link>http://www.sonacharaipotra.com/2010/12/14/so-journalist/</link>
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