Writing
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Trash
There is a myth that white collar crime is an elevated type of crime. That it’s sophisticated. Smart. For people who can hack computers and use calculus to pull off a heist, invisibly in plain sight. Not like your run-of-the-mill criminal who breaks into your retail center and steals a shipment of cigarette boxes, wearing (…)
Clear is Kind
The line between direct and obnoxious is thin, but firm. Your goal is to remain securely on the generous side of the line, avoiding the obnoxious side as much as humanly possible. Often in our attempts to avoid being obnoxious, we overcorrect and become non-committal, evasive, defensive, passive aggressive, and (the worst one) unclear. Making (…)
Pause Before Publishing
About a decade ago everyone and their mom was obsessed with “vulnerability.” Brene Brown gave her now famous TED talk on the topic and popularized the term, leading people to become devout practitioners of vulnerability. What did that mean? No one knows. But what happened was people started oversharing everything private about themselves on the (…)
Party in the U.S.A.
As a self-proclaimed glutton for attention, there are few things more enticing than participating in a parade. Born for the spotlight but not given any discernible talent, I jump at any opportunity to be in front of an audience. ESPECIALLY if it involves outfits and a theme. So when my cousins were like, “Get in (…)
anonymity
It’s a weird thing to start dating again as an adult. I knew how to date as a teenager and twentysomething, but as an Established Person, it feels a bit like going backwards. Meeting someone you have to shave your legs for feels like something you do in high school. Adults go on obligatory couples’ (…)
Back to the Barre
In dance, they have a saying: “Back to the barre.” It means back to basics. Get your form right. Stand at the barre and work on your technique: plié, Tendu, relevé, Dégagé. First principles. The music people tell me this is called, “practicing your scales.” I’ve tried to figure out what the “barre” and “scales” (…)
A Better Path Forward
I get uneasy when someone asks me if I’ll help their friend who wants to get into marketing. I want to help. But the help I can offer isn’t the help they seek. Wanting to land an agency job is different from marketing. I’ve done both and I can tell you that what agency folks (…)
Get Back on Stage
One of the reasons I leapt offline and away from the public eye was that I was glitching. My brain had this trapdoor in it that, when opened, would take me out of the present moment and into another place and time. It’s like a rip would happen and I’d find myself in 2022 or (…)
The Case for Maybe Nothing
I doubt anyone believes that the most pressing issues facing the nation include an insufficient understanding of the origins of the universe. That’s not my quote. That’s House Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) speaking to congress in 1993 about the Superconducting Super Collider the United States was building in Texas. He, along with a chorus of (…)
On Waiting for Your Real Life to Start
I made the mistake of telling Margaret about my dating life. Margaret is a professor which is not at all relevant to this story; I just think it’s cool. She has earrings that are anatomically correct seggsual organs disguised as fancy jewelry, and whenever people compliment her she gives them a lecture on anatomy. I (…)