Places
The False Comfort of the ’80s Suburban Lawn
Mowing the lawn is a frivolous act.
Always Check the Bathrooms
Whenever I’ve found someone passed out in a bathroom as a bartender, it’s because they’ve well exceeded their personal limit with alcohol. I also can’t help but think it’s because there’s been too little of something else.
Save a Life, Drink Outside
Protecting each other from harm? Caring about one another even when it’s hard? Is it too corny to say that I’ll drink to that?
Small Patches of America: When America’s Suburban Romance Is Undone
In other words, the suburbs are equated with whiteness because they were designed to be.
Austria Is Offering Citizenship to Descendants of Jews Exiled During Nazi Occupation. Is That Enough?
This right to return offered to Jews makes me think about who is entitled to join Europe and who is not.
Finding Warmth and Welcome as an Immigrant in Iceland
If I approached my immigration experience the same way people approach a start-up, maybe I could optimize the amount of time it took me to integrate.
Studying Nuclear Policy Without Being Engulfed By Fear
Like most people born just as the Cold War was ending, I learned about nuclear weapons in the past tense.
As a Teacher in a Pandemic, Where Does Work End and I Begin?
Integrating the personal with the professional was helpful in the chaos of 2020. But by 2021, I often lost track of whether I was a teacher or a therapist.
On Hiking Alone
Here is my official statement on why I do most things alone: I am a lone wolf. I am comfortable with myself. Here is another explanation: There is something about me that is fundamentally unlikeable.
The Coyotes in the HOA
Maybe we are the coyotes. We’ve invaded those tidy realms of whiteness, and we did not duck our heads. We acted like we owned the place.
