Jan 23, 2021Member-onlyWhat it means to try to belongI have spent more time in the Bronx wandering it and thinking about it in the past year than I have since I was a teenager. I am wondering, or have been wondering about why, exactly, I am obsessed with the place, given its history as a site of ill-repute…Home7 min read
Jan 11, 2021Member-onlyWhite Supremacy is an EmergencyMost of us did not need last week’s domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol to know that white supremacy is an emergency. What is perhaps less considered more of the time is the fact that white supremacy is an emergency for all of us, especially white people. White supremacy…White Supremacy3 min read
Sep 23, 2020Member-onlyPuppy LoveA new puppy is an extraordinary teacher, especially for these times. I’ve recently been claimed by a little one, which I’ll get to, and that’s made me think about having been a somewhat reluctant pet owner at various stages of my life. As a child, I moved far too much…Puppies12 min read
May 5, 2020Member-onlyLessons from self-isolation in 2012This is the story of staying home without going outside except for necessities for most of 2012. There’s a section of my memoir, The Beautiful Darkness: A Handbook for Orphans (2016), where I talk about self-isolating voluntarily to deal with grief. A couple of writers have mentioned this might be…Self7 min read
Apr 23, 2020Member-onlyMeditations on Staying Safe in the Bronx“Stay safe,” the white man who is new to my South Bronx neighborhood said to me. He works at a restaurant nearby which had the definition of bad timing by opening up right as the pandemic paused New York State to a standstill. When he said it, I muttered something…The Bronx14 min read
Mar 25, 2020Member-onlyWriting in the Face of FearI came to writing through fear. A recurring feature of my childhood was going without the basic necessities we need, especially as children, to make us feel safe: food, attention and shelter. What many people are experiencing as we shelter in place, and worry about what the unknown, infinite-possibility-laden future…Writing3 min read
Nov 17, 2019Member-onlyThe Nuances of HarrietI almost didn’t see Harriet in theaters, and that would have been a mistake. The film is inspirational, perhaps especially moving in these times — a reminder that even when you can’t see your way out of oppression of any kind, there is still, in fact, a way out. There…Harriet Tubman4 min read
Sep 1, 2019Member-onlyThe Worst Day of My Working LifeThe irony of the worst workday of my life is that I never made it into the office. At the time, I was working as a speechwriter for a health agency headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. On paper, my job and career trajectory looked amazing — in the span of two…Worst Day7 min read
May 22, 2019Member-onlyAnthony Bourdain RememberedI know most people remember Anthony Bourdain as a bad ass, world-traveling accidental journalist, but I had a different relationship to his celebrity. I knew he was a fellow Vassar alum, though he left the school on not-quite-friendly terms. I read this 2017 New Yorker profile of him that landed…Parts Unknown4 min read
Mar 27, 2019Member-onlyThoughts on ‘Us’ & A Terrifying AmericaSpoilers follow! Don’t be mad if you haven’t seen the movie and you read this! I went to see Jordan Peele’s previous foray into inclusive horror, “Get Out,” twice in theaters and I watched the version with the alternative ending with my sister at home. …Movies6 min read
