In the palm of my hand are two words, neatly printed on a silver Stumptown bottle cap. “Good Luck.” On a day when the wind is thick against an ink-soaked sky, it’s a reminder that luck can be manufactured. Most people go through life hoping for luck to strike blindly…

It disturbs me to some degree. How desperate we are for the high of attention. We crave single moments of acknowledgment like a good drug. The truth is, most creatives will spend their lives in the barely relevant realm. Often overlooked. Anxious about the future. Unsure of themselves and their…

Cooking meltdowns have been my mind-numbing agent of choice lately. Nothing beats a beet-red chef screaming at a flustered 30-something about bland bolognese sauce to the delight of fellow contestants. While there are hours and hours of incredible content, one clip has been seared into my brain like a hot…

For a time, I worked as a lowly fruit inspector at a now-defunct farm. My job was simple. I’d arrive early Saturday morning, clock in, say hello to the cashiers, and begin scouring the far-flung corners of our inventory for bumps, bruises, rot, and mold. Basically, anything that would repel…

There’s an email sitting in my inbox. Some marketing executive wants me to ghostwrite a series of long-form articles for him. It’s a generous offer. Consistent money from a trusted source is rare in the wild wild west of freelance writing. But I send a polite email declining because I’ve…