I had a birthday yesterday. And even after all these years, I woke up early feeling kind of excited, like I did when I was little and gearing up for a birthday slumber party. All day long it was like little drops of connection (thank you technology!) were collecting in a birthday bucket: An early [...]

Have you ever wanted something so badly you tucked your head and tried to bulldoze your way toward it with sheer force of will? How did it work out? Maybe your steadfast commitment and discipline were in fact what you needed to realize that particular goal. Or perhaps you found yourself exhausted, with the goal [...]

“Before there can be a breakthrough, there has to be a block.” -Jonah Lehrer, Imagine Did you know that in 1965 Bob Dylan was ready to give up music? He was tired of his music, of the expectations people were putting on him, of being hounded about why there was a cat on his last album [...]

For the past month or two there’s been a squeaking sound outside my apartment window, day and night. At first I’d found it kind of cute, because my imagination had conjured up a sweet little nest of birds out there chirping away. How charming! But one day I finally craned my neck out the window [...]