One of the things I find most challenging about picking up a new book is getting used to the narrator. It can take me a while to get accustomed to their diction and rhythm. I just finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons and while I really enjoyed the book, it was…
Okay, so I feel like I have to weigh in on this “quiet quitting” trend (now that it’s probably stale). For the uninitiated, quiet quitting is choosing to fulfill your job duties during your working hours, and nothing more. You’re not actually quitting your job; you’re quitting “the idea of…
I’ve only had one job with quarterly sales goals and commissions tied to those sales. I’m not motivated by commission, but I am very competitive—especially with myself and the clock—so as a quarter’s end came into view, it was easy to apply some pressure to close those deals. And at…
When I posted about leaving Facebook a while back, I alluded to some challenges associated with my decision, and I want to share them in case you’re considering leaving the platform, too. Before I dive in, though, I want to emphasize how happy I am with my decision to leave…
When I was in college, my work-study job was at the auditorium’s box office. I worked there most days before, after, and in between my classes, and I was able to earn some extra money as an usher during performances (and get paid to see some great shows!). Working at the…
Do you remember where you were on April 20, 1999, when the Columbine HS shooting happened? I was in 8th grade, and I remember being told to sit down on the wrestling mats in gym class while my teacher explained what happened. It was sad and scary. We had had…
Technology can obviously be leveraged to do great things. It’s basically what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years: developing online communities for folks to connect (healthMpowerment, Bull City Beer Runners); empowering public health practitioners and citizens to collect data on their local tobacco retailers in order to pass policies that…
This blog post contains explicit content. It will probably surprise no one that I have flirted with the idea of starting a podcast. I even completed Seth Godin’s Podcast Fellowship (now called The Podcasting Workshop) back in 2018 as a way to jump-start my new career (or at least passion…
When I was young, I wanted to be a movie star when I grew up (or sooner), among many other things—from a writer for The Daily Show to a food stylist—but the movie star dream was persistent. I don’t think many of us think much about why we wanted to be what we wanted…
The other day, when I was decanting my mouthwash, I squeezed too hard on the bottle and spilled lots of it all over my bathroom counter. I was annoyed I was so careless and wasted so much of that blue-green elixir, but I was even more annoyed that I had…
