My elementary school teacher had a novel approach to discipline. He was a big soccer fan — which was weird in my working-class neighborhood, where the only Real Sports were football and baseball. …

I’m not a heavy user of TikTok for many reasons, but mostly because I’m in my 30s and too far gone to learn a new social media platform. …

Content note: This piece explores eating disorders in detail and with candor, which may be difficult or disturbing to some readers. Take care of yourself and do what you feel is right. The best piece of licorice I ever ate was in the supply closet of a commercial printing warehouse…

Last month, I took my car in to get it serviced. When I handed my keys over to the man behind the counter, he chuckled and held up my keychain. It’s one of those kitschy plastic ones that looks like it came from an old roadside motel. …

Or: I wrote a whole book about a famous sex worker and of course no one wants to publish it — First, here’s a story. Almost four years ago, I was approached by an academic press who wanted me to write something. I pitched a book and then signed a contract to write a book about a woman who lived in Seattle around the turn of the 20th century. …

Can we ever really be adults if we don’t have space for our American birthright, a rusty coffee cans full of nails? — I moved from Seattle to Portland for a lot of reasons. Less crowded, no Amazon workers and their Amazon dollars, and the particular joy that I, an Oregonian by birth, feel when I get to stay in the car while someone pumps your gas for $15 per hour. Portland had…

People living outside are not the enemy — and you are not their victim. — Yesterday, on my neighborhood NextDoor — an app I got for the sole purpose of unloading excess produce from my garden and monitoring the various lost and found pets on my block—a homeowner posted about some “van campers” outside of his house. He asked how to best address them. Of…

Having the space to grow your own food is great. It shouldn’t be a privilege. — The day that I got the keys to our new rental house, I Googled “how to start a garden.” …

When I realized weddings were inherently unremarkable, marriage stopped being so mythical — The engagement posts have slowed some since we turned 30, but not by much. Last year was the first in a while when we didn’t go to a single wedding, but that was because of COVID-19, not because our friends weren’t getting married. They were — just in backyards and…