Back in 2006, in my hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts, I found myself eligible to vote in my first-ever election. Like every freshly minted voter, I was armed with enthusiasm, a naive sense of civic duty, and a boatload of confusion. I was ready to storm the polls and make my mark on the American democratic…

As a master photographer, Emily Slatin has a wide-ranging array of both color and black & white photography since 1998 on her personal website, RescueGirl557. She’s an expert at both film photography and digital photography, the latter which she currently takes with her two Leica digital cameras.   Recently, I spoke to Emily about her passion…

This was the first sponsored post that Emily ever paid me for, and therefore I must preserve it in spirit in these pages. Back as I was wont to do every day in 2020, I ran one of my typical morning threads on Twitter. Typically, they were of the #writerslift variety. My hope with these…

There are many times when I will take an extended break from serious writing. Frankly, the typical reason for erratic production is a general lack of interest in my writings. Occasionally, I’ll write something that receives an unexplainable  surge in interest. One such article that garnered an unusual amount of attention was one pondering the…

Having quite literally grown up with Star Trek the Next Generation playing on the TV in my living room, it should come as no surprise that the stars above were my first love. Popular culture has long been fascinated by the idea of extraterrestrial cultures. Yet, mainstream science has often scoffed at the notion. Still,…

I’ve always wished for my words to touch people’s hearts and minds in a way that will lead them to improve both themselves and the lives of others. The truth is, we all have words that can do that, right here, right now, wherever you are, whatever it is you might be doing. I want…

Sometimes, life nudges us in mysterious ways —including the subtle hints of wisdom from a favorite Pokémon content creator’s latest livestream. Some viewers were complaining about how he hacks the games he plays in order to save time and produce more consistent results with the Pokemon he speed-runs.  He argued that by removing encounters and…

One of the few good memories I have from junior high school was a motivational poster that read “reach for the moon, because if you don’t make it, you’ll be among the stars.” This poster quote has rarely left the back of my mind. After all, if you shoot for the moon, but can’t quite…

There’s little more that I hate than when I wake up too late in the morning. Even if I get up a half hour after my usual wakeup time, I feel a strong urge to rearrange my entire day to make up for lost time. Many times, I can’t write as soon as I get up.…