Since 2001, I’ve been asked why I joined the military a thousand times. “What made you love it?” people ask. And I tell them that I wanted to travel, be a public servant, and go to college for free. But that’s […]Read More ›

Each December, as the new year approaches, I like to meditate on the lessons I’ve learned the previous 12 months. December’s cold and darkness make it conducive to this type of introspection. There’ve been a few times this year, and more broadly […]Read More ›

On Monday, Minneapolis had its first snowfall. Autumn is unofficially over, and today I opted to make the best of it. In the morning, I photographed Lake of the Isles. Then I bought a bottle of Bailey’s, came home, and began writing. “It’s […]Read More ›

Riding a camel in Cairo. Some interviews are this exciting. This week, I drove to St. Paul to conduct an interview. I’m writing a piece about anger, and John, the man I interviewed, has been teaching anger management classes at […]Read More ›

Picture: Jaipur, India For the past six weeks I’ve travelled extensively — in my mind. The log of my “psychological travels” is this 4,500-word essay that I wrote about my mother’s mental illness, my romantic relationship, my work with Medicaid […]Read More ›