About Alex

Why yes, my headshot is of me in my pajamas.

My name is Alex Iwashyna. You may also know me as Alexandra, Al, Big Al, the Alex Iwashyna formally known as Alex Nelson, and, of course, Al your Pal (but only when I’m running for office in sixth grade. my catchy slogan that may or may not have been why I lost.)

I write a humor blog (except when it’s serious) about life, parenting, marriage, zombies, culture, religion, politics, and Southern people who offend my Yankee sensibilities. Oh, and I occasionally mention my inability to wake up in the morning and not hate everyone.

Because early really does suck. So does anything you can’t sleep in. Except shoes. Shoes are great.

I am also a freelance writer and poet, a consultant for individuals and companies looking to blog or improve their social media skills, and I teach The Art of Blogging at the Visual Arts Center. In my spare time, I created a moms’ support group for a local nonprofit, Commonwealth Parenting, and speak to pregnancy groups in the area on the realities of motherhood. (Click here for a detailed list of my exploits and why people hire me.)

The rest of the family is pretty cool, too:

• S/Scott = my husband since 2003, pediatrician, and all-around goofy, soccer-loving, Alex-loving, hilarious man
• E = my son since 2006, my oldest, and all-around energetic, sports-loving, math-loving, hilarious boy
• N = my daughter since 2009, my youngest, and all-around easy-going, princess-loving, dinosaur-loving, hilarious girl

We are a Yankee couple who bred Southern children and secretly love living in the South. Except for the fact that our district votes Republican like they pay us (which for some of the neighbors probably isn’t far from the truth). Oh well. We can still annoy them with our liberal yard signs.

I am a Stay at Home Mom and Writer (yes, they are capitalized to sound more important) in my early thirties, and I worked REALLY hard to get here, but not exactly the right path of working hard.

1. Received my B.A. in Political Philosophy from Brown University in 2000
2. Received my Medical Degree from the University of Virginia in 2006
3. Realized I want to stay home with my kids in 2006
4. Remembered that I love to write in 2007

Oh and my journey also included a conversion: from an atheist/deist/agnostic Republican to a God-loving/Christian-y Liberal. Fairly inconvenient when I’m trying to fit into the twitter-verse, blogosphere and outside-ville. (That last phrase isn’t catchy AT ALL. Totally explains why Americans are in front of a screen more than a tree. Tree sounds totally boring. And itchy.)

So here we are. Writing. Blogging. Parenting. Plus, a book of essays that are DYING for me to write. I just have to make the time. Sleep is overrated anyway.

Feel free to contact me.

Tagged as: Alex Iwashyna, Alex Nelson, Alexandra Iwashyna, Art of Blogging, Blogging, blogosphere, Christian, freelance writer, God-loving, Hire Me, Humor Blog, Liberal, Marriage, Mom Blog, Motherhood, parenting, Philosophy, political philosophy, Religion, Social Media, stay at home mom, Virginia, visual arts center, Writing, Yankee, Zombies