Why it’s important to read the room

May 11, 2026
Read the room sounds like a casual phrase, but it’s actually a sophisticated social skill. It means recognizing the emotional and social dynamics that already exist before you insert yourself into them. Every room has its own weather. Sometimes it’s light and joking. Sometimes...

The S cookies of my childhood

March 11, 2026
These are S cookies, a remnant of my childhood.  Just about every week my grandfather would walk in the door with small white boxes of cookies from Savoia...

A conversation with ChatGPT about friendship

March 9, 2026
I've had more than a few conversations with ChatGPT over the past few months, asking its perception of my core beliefs. Their observations are, of course, drawn from the...

On holding a grudge

March 4, 2026
A grudge begins as a knot in the chest. A moment replayed, then again. A wound that didn’t get the dignity of being named, much less tended to. We tell...

Doowop and our lost innocence

March 2, 2026
There’s something about doo-wop that can undo me in the first eight bars. Put on In the Still of the Night by The Five Satins, or Maybe by the Chantels , and...

Is opportunism always a bad thing?

February 26, 2026
We've all seen opportunism at work. Maybe it's someone we know who is always looking for the benefit. Or who always seems to position themselves to benefit. And...

On the particular cruelty of being left out

February 24, 2026
This topic gets more comments than just about anything else I post here. I think it's universal. Being left out on purpose has a particular cruelty to it. It's...

Eric Dane’s last words

February 20, 2026
Eric Dane was handsome, gifted, and yes, tormented. He died only 10 months after revealing his ALS diagnosis. It took a while to diagnose, as is common with ALS....

Have you ever been blindsided by someone’s hidden age

February 19, 2026
Things are not always as they seem—and nowhere is that clearer than in the unexpected workplace betrayals that come out of nowhere. The times when we don't see it...

The flaws in Biblically-based thinking

February 17, 2026
Biblically-based thinking can offer comfort, moral grounding, and a sense of meaning. Just like thoughts based on any other holy book. And there ARE others. The Koran....

What happened to our terra firma?

February 17, 2026
Don't know about you, but I've learned so much that I've felt strangely unmoored this past month. The revelations in the Epstein files have done something quieter and...

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Here you’ll find my blog, some of my essays, published writing, and my solo performances. There’s also a link to my Etsy shop for healing and grief tools offered through A Healing Spirit.

 

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