He’s doubling down: getting away from people he can’t trust — Have you ever met someone you listen to for the quality nuggets while ignoring the crazy? I remember my wife’s uncle, a tough-guy, ex-New York City cop. On my first Thanksgiving dinner with her family, he and I quietly stood up against a loud-mouthed boyfriend. The boyfriend was prattling on…

Empty pegs: a gymnast’s story, part I — The walls of old New England homes are stuffed. Pictures memorialize family and generations gone before. Paintings show places traveled. Pegs near doors hold the hats, scarves, and jackets that protect us from the outside world. Some pegs hold things that are heavy: coats dripping from winter’s blast or bags…

A History of Misery Not Always Shared — The Misery History Show allows every individual and group to explain how THEY are underappreciated, overabused, and deserving of special accommodation. The producers of the show want everyone to know a critical thing: You are right. You have been taken advantage of. Go ahead and be unhappy. Today’s episode begins…

Our problems are in our heads — Last week Scott Adams independently published his book, Reframe Your Brain. It had been cancelled in February by Penguin Random House. It’s an easy read. If a knock-knock joke and a haiku had a baby in the Self-Help aisle, it would look like a Scott Adams’ reframe. Usual frame: Your…

Only hours, minutes, and seconds left now — I’m doing a dangerous thing. I’m asking you to visit Mom’s online estate sale, Ode to Joy. You could criticize me. You could say I’m merging the sentimental with the mercantile, blurring the love of family with the lure of lucre. …

If only we had the time to look — As soon as I think life is calming down, getting back to normal so I can move on to working and writing and what I call my life… Bam! Something happens. No. That something is not hearing a soundbite from the most popular and most disliked person in America: It’s…

We are resigned to climate change — 21 days in a row of 110-degree heat in Phoenix. Even growing up in the hot, humid South, a record like that makes me queasy. Over the last week, I’ve heard a dozen people remark on the sky-high temperatures in Arizona. They mention the heat because they need something to…

Even Amnesty International — Last Friday I was rushing to the post office. You’ve been in that moment, I’m sure. In a world awash with ambiguity, a few facts remain. If we enter the post office before 5pm, the letter will be stamped with that date. …

Perhaps it’s selfish of me… — Mom passed away a few months ago, and I’ve been going through her things. Not having lived together for thirty years, I had forgotten her love for legal pads. She used them for notes, To Do lists, and mini-diaries. …