My Substack

This is not a typical blog post (although please don’t ask me to describe what is a typical blog post is). Instead, below you'll find an essay, entitled "Out of Order." I started it about three years ago, and finished it in January of 2013, eight…

In the middle of a meeting last week with a client, their curtains fell down. The panels were attached with Velcro, and they unattached themselves loudly, peeling away from one end of the floor-to-ceiling window to the other. “That happens,” my…

I had an enlightening lunch the other day. I was with two colleagues, and we were talking about social media. One of these colleagues is what I would call “off the social media grid”: no Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, a little-used Pinterest…

My kid keeps getting nervous and crying in the mornings before school. Kindergarten is practically over. I don’t know why we’ve come back to the nerves he started the year with. But here we are. My tendency—as any parent’s would be—has been…

Writing persuasive and compelling web copy that sells: it’s the magic bullet that everyone wants! But in reality, writing good web copy (or any copy) is a process of discovery and thoughtful storytelling, matched by good editing and a willingness to…