Noise-cancelling headphones

I’ll never forget the first time I put on headphones for my CD player. I was in high school and I’m pretty sure the CD was Moulin Rouge, the movie mu...

Everybody’s doing it: A short treatise on social “tugs”

And just like that, many of my close female friends are pregnant.It happened all at once. Except of course, that it didn’t. Some were likely trying f...

Making time for what you want

I’ve been wanting to write more for years. Literally, years.Throughout my life, I’ve had multiple ebbs and flows of my persistence in regular writing...

Want a mentor? Stop asking for one.

UPDATED: See part two of this series here: “What to turn a mentor into a role model? Just be cool.”At least once a week, I get a request with a famil...

Protecting your tribe

This evening, in a shop in Hayes Valley, I witnessed a woman enter the store and quietly carry out an entire rack of children’s clothing without payi...

A big lesson from a little moment

Our caterers forgot the ice.With 42 minutes to go until our USV Network welcome session began, I had limited time and resources but needed to make it...

In the name of civic duty

Is it bad to cut in line to cast a vote? This was the ethical conundrum I felt as I waited in line at the polls.I’ve never seen it like this before. ...

Cover photo

Cheering on Marathon runners

New York City on Marathon day may be the city at its absolute best.It has all of the right ingredients to both simultaneously welcome traveling visit...

What we can learn from theatre’s performance reports

I’ve always admired how the theatre industry handles feedback.First of all, it’s all happening in real time…for everyone. This makes it much harder t...

Befriending your neighbors

Last night at around 9:45 p.m., I hit a wall. I’d been cleaning and tidying all evening and after completing one organization project I wasn’t sure I...