Three and half years ago, I recruited my cousin, June, to star in a video I made about the creative process. She was a young five years old at the time and already well-versed in big words, iPads, and popsicle stick jokes. (June provides me with most of my go-to knock-knock jokes). She’s a real wordsmith:… Continue reading June in July
In April, almost four years to the day after releasing their first album, The Lumineers came out with their sophomore album, Cleopatra. It’s hauntingly beautiful from start to finish. I’ve had it on repeat—more or less—since April. (Gale Song, Sleep on the Floor, Ophelia, Cleopatra, and Patience are my favorites. Give it a listen if… Continue reading And If We Listen
Nine years ago, my current roommate and good pal, John, and I spent our first week of summer vacation at Driver’s Ed. We sat for eight hours each day, cramped in a stuffy, window-less classroom, listening to our misogynistic, hungover instructor, Mr. McPherson, babble on about his driving escapades. Once, he described the exact motorcycle chase scene… Continue reading Make Your (Driver’s)Bed And Lie In It
When my good pal, Peter, was a kid, his parents didn’t let him watch PG-13 movies. That is, they didn’t let him watch PG-13 movies unless he’d read the book first—assuming there was a book. Unfortunately for Peter, there wasn’t any accompanying literature for such highbrow comedies like Happy Gilmore or Rat Race. He mostly read… Continue reading Peter Pan(demonium)
My badass cousin, Sophie, recently gave the valedictorian speech at her high school’s graduation. She’s wicked smaht in the Getting Good Grades sense; more importantly and more visibly, though, she’s wicked smaht in the whole thoughtful, well spoken, humble, and gracious sense. She’s someone who doesn’t need the weird title of valedictorian to validate those… Continue reading “Intimacy itself, which is knowledge”
Last month, an old high school classmate of mine posted this (epic, glorious) Facebook status: Hey Everyone. So I’m going to be driving from Austin TX to Portland Oregon starting Tomorrow. It’s the hipster Oregon Trail, I’m pretty excited. I’m going to be in the car FOREVER for the next couple of weeks, and I’m… Continue reading Make The Call
Two years ago, I coached high school track in Concord, Massachusetts—just two miles down the road from Hanky Thoreau’s Walden Pond. It was poetic, then, that when I had lunch last week with a (great, super creative) dude I coached that year, our conversation gravitated towards solitude—and its role in gaining self-awareness and enabling creativity. Isaac—the former runner—is… Continue reading Watch Your (Soli)TUDE
A little over a year ago, I took a train—the California Zephyr—from San Francisco to Denver. It took 36 hours and most of my remaining sanity. Let me preface this: I’m not an outdoorsy, campy, free spirit-y adventurer. I like slow walks that are mostly shaded. I like feeling moderately clean. I like wandering, but… Continue reading When Shit Hits The Fan
The B-Line is Boston’s slowest train. It putters along Comm Ave for six miles—from Boston College down to the Park Street stop at Boston Common. It makes about three times as many stops as it should. It might as well be a trolley car. Its inefficiency is both adorable and maddening. On Sunday, my good pal,… Continue reading This Train Is Bound For Glory
“Sometimes, I start a sentence, and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way—like an improv conversation, an improversation.”—Michael Gary Scott In college, our coach used to schedule our weekly, Sunday morning long runs for 9:30 am, her brilliant, cruel, but ultimately futile attempt to curb… Continue reading An Improversation
Child's Play 