Personal Essays
Some Personal News
The life and death of a freelance journalism career: "I guess I wonder why some writers still do it. I hope they still want to make a difference—or just have amazing experiences—because there’s value in that."
Loss For Words: A Meditation on the Ubiquity of Bizarre Corporate Language
"Sometimes a CEO would come in and pace. He needed to “think out loud.” We’d have pastries, coffee; I remember feeling at a loss: how do I behave in front of this client when I have truly no idea what I’m supposed to do or be?"
The Last Dirty Picture Show
A love letter to the Tiki Adult Theater: "When it’s gone, where will all these lost souls go?"
A Walk Down the Towpath: What Actually Happens?
I don’t feel like a scared person, someone who is constantly afraid of being hurt. I try hard, actually, not to be that way.
Anniversary
Ten years after one of the deadliest tornadoes in history ripped through his town, an ex-newspaper reporter remembers all that was lost and all that was left.
I’ve Always Wanted to Look in a Dress the Way Albert Brooks Looks in a Dress…
Wishing I looked as good as a man in a dress is an ancient feeling for me.
Scheming for Moderna in the Black Heart of Budapest: An Ex-pat’s Vax Adventure
If I’ve learned anything this past year, living in a somewhat unstable foreign country during a vicious global pandemic, it’s to trust my survival instinct: Stock up on rice and beans, make sure my bills are paid, check in with family and friends, and stay away from vaccines that sound like Captain Beefheart album titles.
