This likely would have been timelier in mid-February, but recently I have been thinking about the meaning of love. My older brother will be tying the knot in October and I’m happy for him. I’m …
There is a quiet, radical power in being the reason someone else smiles. In a world that often measures success by how much space we take up or how loudly our names are shouted, there is a different …
We live in an era of the clenched fist. Whether it’s the way we argue about the economy, the future of the borough or the nightly news, there is a prevailing sense that if we just grip our opinions …
We are a culture obsessed with the “X” on the map. We are taught from a young age to plot our lives like a topographical survey, calculating the shortest distance between where we are and where …
My older brother recently turned 51, and in a couple short months, I will be trailing him into my own 50th year. It is a strange, bifurcated existence: My brain still expects to sprint up the stairs, …
I love education. Not necessarily as a structured organism, but the foundational answer to curiosity. Both of my parents were educators. My father taught for a few years at a private school and …
Coming from the loud family that I do, and given the fact that we have never been shy about sharing our opinions, it may not surprise you to know that I have engaged in more than my fair share of …
Feeling contemplative recently, a few thoughts occurred to me. One of those thoughts being that change is never comfortable. There is a certain comfort in a garden that never changes. We like the …
As many people are wont to do when the pages fall off the calendar to reveal a new year, I do a reexamination of certain areas of my life. It seems like social media wants to bombard us with the …
I got into a stupid argument. Not a big surprise to some, but it also wasn’t recent. I have just been reflecting recently on the time when I so confidently asserted something I wrote as being …
The rain on my roof this morning wasn’t a sound effect. It was a cold, persistent drizzle that will soak you to the bone if you step outside without a proper jacket. There’s no filtering it out, …
As I write this week’s column, I’m feeling contemplative about where we’ve been, how far we’ve come and where we’re going. By “we,” I mean the Chicago Bears and I — obviously. Yes, …
Anyone who speaks with me about philosophy or ideas will hear me say quite a lot about the ripple effect. In fact, I do believe I may have mentioned it within this opinion column more than once …
Being a Gen X kid and been raised on a variety of television shows, I’m often prone to draw parallels between life and art. This week happens to be such an occasion. I know there is a lot of …
The final season of “Stranger Things” has started on Netflix. You’ve already watched it once all the way through. You know the big twists, the heartbreaks, the deaths, the goofy filler …
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I’m struck by how quickly the year has passed. Of all our holidays, this is the one that most clearly asks us to pause and look back. If New Year’s is for …
I know I’m still new to the island and I know next to nothing about boats (yet), but I thought my column this week could use a good maritime allegory. Picture a passenger vessel caught between …
I have a fun piece of trivia for you: Guess what animal plants more trees than any other? Squirrels. They do it accidentally by forgetting where they stash all the nuts they hide. I love that little …
As I write this, tomorrow is Halloween, and for years Nov. 1 meant it was time to decorate for Christmas. Yes, I’m one of THOSE people. But this year, in a new place with new people and no …
I have always enjoyed writing pieces of opinion journalism. It’s actually how I got my first taste of the newspaper life back in high school. That was when I first got ink in my veins, as one of my …