Playground stories
Recently, I gave my students an assignment to interview someone in their major field. I wanted to introduce a skill [...]
New Year’s lessons
Some years ago, I wrote a line that has recently re-emerged in my mind: Maybe I should go back to [...]
Mother, scholar, feminist
When I finished my dissertation last summer, surreptitiously becoming a doctor of philosophy, I reposted the Facebook announcement sent out [...]
An ode to Anna
Handing me a pamphlet on grief, the woman asked if I had a name picked out for her. I stared [...]
MASH and the game of life
During my recent, biannual house cleaning, I came across a blue-lined sheet of paper from my childhood, where my friend [...]
To Italy, with love
A friend of mine, a seasoned journalist in Rome, recently wrote about la dolce vita, and how travelers to Italy [...]
Papal stories
When I found out about Pope Francis’ death on Monday, April 21, I had just dropped my daughter off from [...]
Anatomy of a dream
In mid-January, I became a doctoral candidate. Formally, this means that I passed the dissertation proposal, plus the qualifying exams [...]
Shaping words
A couple of months ago, I found myself decluttering with a frenzy. I’ve written articles about the how-to of decluttering, [...]
Joy of learning
The third day into the influenza that I got on Christmas, I noticed a few tea mugs had accumulated in [...]
To smoke (or not)
Every time I go to the doctor and have to fill out my medical history, one question gives me pause: [...]
Inquiring minds want to know
I recently did something that I have wondered about—but also resisted—my entire life. I took an IQ test. I was [...]