Today is my birthday. That’s actually kind of hard to say, because I hate birthdays. Many of them have been awful. I won’t go through the litany of stuff that’s happened, because in the grand scheme of human horrors, it feels self-indulgent to whine about shitty birthdays. But since I was a kid, birthdays haveContinue reading “Visibility”
Category Archives: Growth
The extra mile
My employer recently sent out an e-mail praising those who have “gone the extra mile” during COVID-19 season. Whatever his motives, that paragraph felt like a slap in the face to me. A lot of us showed up, did our jobs to the best of our ability, but dragged ourselves across the finish line withContinue reading “The extra mile”
Connections
In the past two days, I have had two delightful conversations with women who both apologized for “bending my ear” or “talking too much.” The apologies were so unnecessary that I felt sad that the speakers even voiced them: I enjoyed both conversations very much and was grateful for these strangers, who took time outContinue reading “Connections”
Boundaries and obsession
This weekend, a man contacted me through a dating app. After I skimmed his profile, I was 99% sure I wasn’t interested, but I decided to continue the conversation just to see what happened. I do that sometimes, on the off chance someone pleasantly surprises me. So far they haven’t, but I’ve ended up withContinue reading “Boundaries and obsession”
Not-so-small gifts
I think the term “miracle” is overused, so I’m not going to call what’s unfolded since Friday a miracle. But I am going to acknowledge all of it, gratefully, as a series of gifts that I badly needed. For months now, since even before COVID-19, I’ve been feeling like I couldn’t stand any more hits,Continue reading “Not-so-small gifts”
The fun factor
For reasons I don’t even want to delve into, lately I’ve had this urge to listen to boy bands while I grade. Normally I favor dark ambient melodies that evoke haunted castles in Romania, so this is very unlike me. A few nights ago, the five-part harmony suddenly got me waxing all nostalgic, so IContinue reading “The fun factor”
Love in the time of racial tension
It’s been a minute (as the kids say) since I’ve posted. In this cultural moment, to blog about anything other than racism and injustice would feel self-indulgent. The past months have been time for me to be quiet and listen to others’ stories. And while I understand that silence is complicity, I wanted to thinkContinue reading “Love in the time of racial tension”
