My life
These are my priorities for the year for getting closer to being the person I want to be. As in years past, I want to share my resolutions.
Find past ones here.
I was proud of what I accomplished in 2018, which included a trip to Mexico City (and a visit to Paso de Cortes, as depicted above, where the Spanish conquistador entered the valley to attack the people sometimes called the Aztecs). I’m excited for 2019.
In 2018, I found I wanted to go backward to go forward more than I expected.
At work and in my writing and my service, I differently assessed where I was last year to plan for this year. Where 2017 featured many public facing advances (I became CEO! a creative piece of mine was published somewhere! I), my 2018 featured far more internal or private advances.
I am proud of what I’ve done. There’s more to do.
my company’s health insurance covers working with a nutritionist so i took advantage of that the last year. it’s part of me trying to inch my way toward being healthier in my 30s. she helped improve some of my habits.
1. portion control, have a little less the first time and then think twice before having seconds, stop when i’m full
2. every other — foods i love most but are worst for me, like french fries and potato chips, i won’t ever give up, but i do try to have them every other time than i normally would, opting for the side salad or baby carrots
3. special occasions — i try to not get pizza or drink soda unless at a party or celebrating. it allows me to have what i love, but limits in a healthy way. i also don’t actually keep chips in the house anymore
4. invest in produce — eating healthier is expensive. i’ve all but decided upon a blank check for fresh foods and local produce that force me to eat far healthier than when i’m not.
5. have a go to health food — habit drives bad eating because the unhealthy stuff is hwat we often know best and can do most easily, so have seasonal go tos for food. in the summer, smoothies and giant salads are favorites.
6. seasons — move on from foods so you don’t get sick of them.
7. cut the sugar — fortunately i already drink coffee black but she helped push me to drop the sugary teas i would sometimes have at home. i also stopped having orange juice in the house.
Listen to my interview on “Philly Pod Who.”
I gave some honest advice from entrepreneurship experience. Thanks Kevin!
Anybody worth learning from has plenty they stand for.
I love hearing the rules of thumb, the standards, the conventional wisdom and the accrued learnings of these people. Similarly I try to capture tightly-phrased aphorisms and holding myself accountable with plenty of direct and specific lists and resolutions.
So of course I was a sucker for the concept of ‘12 Rules for Life.’ It’s a book published early this year by Jordan Peterson that spiraled from popular to, fitting for today’s era, being engulfed in a strangely hyper-gendered debate. The book’s over-simplified approach of ordering one’s life with structure did gain positive feedback, including a podcast episode from Malcolm Gladwell. But because Peterson is aflame in lots of identity politics, I walked away from the the book less interested in adding to that debate than with something else.
I spent the last several months taking notes of the many universal truths I held myself to, and recommended for others. It became a fun game for parties among friends and family: what are your 12 Rules to Live By?
Let me share. (I collected ones from friends and family here)
The Americas were home to some of the world’s most complex and established civilizations in the world at the time of European contact.
As many as 100 million people may have lived in the Americas in 1491, far more than Europe. In the next century, an estimated 80 million of them died, largely because of diseases humans didn’t understand yet.
Though those estimates are still actively contested, a growing number of anthropologists, archaeologists and historians defend the concept that perhaps as many as one in five people on the planet died. It would have been the largest epidemic in human history.
That massive change in understanding pre-Columbian was chronicled in the celebrated 2006 book 1491, by Charles C. Mann, who had written on the issue for the Atlantic. It made a stir then, and I finally got to picking through it, regularly reading news articles on the topic.
I shared my notes below.
Continue reading The Americas were more populated than Europe at the time of first contact
I was proud to be included in a new web series from the Uncommon Individual Foundation.
It highlights the work Technical.ly has done and my role in that work. Watch it below.
Continue reading Watch this kind video profile of me from the Uncommon Individual Foundation
One of the highest profile jobs for young comics is a correspondent role on The Daily Show, the acclaimed satire-news anchor. Today’s guest has just that.
Atlanta-bred comedian has appeared on Conan and in 2017 was highlighted by Rolling Stone as among 10 comedians to watch. Last fall, she joined the cast of the Comedy Central staple.
In this episode of The Writing Process, hear her talk about when she chooses to write a joke on stage and when she crafts it on paper.
Continue reading 01:09: Daily Show Correspondent Dulcé Sloan
For as subjective as poetry can be, there is little ambiguity is being named a finalist for a National Book Award in poetry.
That’s what Danez Smith earned with the 2017 poetry collection Don’t Call Us Dead. Hear from Danez in today’s episode of my Writing Process Podcast.
The editing experience is always challenging. But it’s perhaps most difficult when you are telling your own story.
That is the focus of what I discussed with memoirist and journalist Lori Tharps, who is most recently a collaborator on Proud, the autobiography of Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympics. Tharps, herself, has written memoir in several forms, including her 2008 book Kinky Gazpacho.
