It’s not just because I look hot. — “This is gonna kill us.” “A machine will never be able to do what we do.” “This is the end of art as we know it.” These were some of the comments in a content-writing group over whether AI-generated content was a good idea. I admit I felt some panic…

And it was No Big Deal. — The Glow-Up In August 2020, my daughter and I moved to western Massachusetts so I could attend college as part of a non-traditional students’ program. She was a little girl two years ago — she had bangs straight across her forehead, she was obsessed with Harry Potter (especially Emma Watson), and had…

What it’s like to come out of anesthesia in a foreign country. Dreaming into reality. I don’t remember getting back to my apartment, a spacious, air-conditioned studio I rented in downtown Cancún, Mexico for $32/night, but I woke up in the center of my king-sized bed that next morning with a lot less…

Let’s just be real about this. — My dad and I did DNA tests earlier this summer. I didn’t meet him until I was 23 years old (I wrote a story about that a few years ago), and I haven’t really had a lot of opportunity to get to know other members of his side of the…

There are no filters in that realm. Facebook, that social media platform of the elderly, is a grand mess, we all knew that already. But I am old (enough), and I also have the grandchild, so Facebook is my main “connect with an audience of people I actually know” platform…

A riot of color welcomed me, and a quiet cacophony of hummingbirds and bees, butterflies, and other little things come to get drunk on flower sperm and help keep the vibe alive. I was there to see it for her, to relieve some of the pressure of maintaining a garden…

Confessions of a collector. — I would have slammed the brakes for that tricycle, made my friends roll their eyes, and remind me about how it once took three months and six friends for me to move out of my three-bedroom house because of things like this. I’m a sucker for things with stories. People…

Being a nomad got old. — I know any Sprinter-dwelling millennial reading this is cringing right now, but yeah, that’s what happened. Experiences are fun and I’ve traveled the world, but these days I get more enjoyment from sitting at home playing with my toys — and there’s not a damn thing wrong with it. I…

Listicles. Articles on how to get people to read your articles. “Why I’m not writing on Medium anymore.” Self-improvement articles from child-free 32-year-olds Badly-written articles about what good writing is Elon Musk. How to make money writing. Whatever thing of the week is officially dead. 2nd person headlines telling me…