being a writer

Only in the water for 30 seconds at the Paddling Center at Shingle Creek, I was already feeling the familiar anxiety associated with not understanding how to do something. I was on a guided stand-up paddleboard (SUP) tour through a picturesque…

I guess we’re having some kind of polar apocalypse in the Midwest. Here in Cincinnati, my kids are home from school today and I’ve heard that the entirety of Illinois and Minnesota is shut down. I might even skip running outside today. I joke, but…

I’m used to waiting a long time for pieces I write to see the light of day. I’ve become an expert at slyly stalking editors I’m waiting on and obsessively hitting “refresh” on the day a big piece of mine is slated to go live. Most freelance…

A few weeks ago, I took my 10-year-old son to Los Angeles for a freestyle trampoline event on Venice Beach. I took him because he desperately wanted to go (he’s a very good freestyle flipper—that’s him below) and I wanted to write more about this…

  Complexify. Isn’t that a lovely-sounding word? Its meaning, to add complexity, is even better. I know you’re thinking, Wait a minute, isn’t it all supposed to be about simplifying? Isn’t that what every single article is about? What…