How to get control of your life (and respect to Kate Middleton)

Detail of The Cholmondeley Children at Houghton Hall by Dickinson

Last month I spent tons of time going to the hospital for cancer tests. Which means I got clarity about what was really important: getting dressed for doctor visits.

I felt way too tired to stick to my regular routine of promising to post on my blog and then not doing it, but I didn’t want doctors to think I’d given up on life. So I tried to dress like a glass-half-full person. But all my clothes are either work-from-home-pajamas or pitch-a-company-black. Whatever, it turns out that focusing on being optimistic is not a way for me to feel in control. Read more

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Key to accepting a difficult reality? Let go of judgments

Z is recording Bach. Fifteen minutes earlier he lost his music which is normal for him. When he was six years old his teacher could change a bowing pattern right before a performance and he’d remember just fine. Now, at 16, he can’t remember a bowing pattern even if he checks it right before he records. He knows that it’s because of his brain injury, and he tries to be patient with himself. But losing the music is more difficult. Read more

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How successful people deal with dead ends: sidestep and reframe


Every morning my Google Calendar alert says “you have no events scheduled today.” This used to be my favorite part of my email, but my prayers for permanent lockdown went unanswered, and my brother did shared screen to help me book a flight and he saw I have no calendar and he lost his shit. Read more

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How to be a team player while Gen Z saves the planet

How to be a team player while Gen Z saves the planet

I am with my son at Northeastern University Law School for a day of panels about socialist initiatives. My son told me no writing blog posts in the back of the room. “Can you please just fit in today?” Read more

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Movie reviews. Almost.

Movie reviews. Almost.

I am on a sad-movie-watching binge. It started a few weeks ago. Wait. No. It probably started when I was in third grade and there was no grownup home until 8pm, so after school I went to the movie theater every day for a week to watch Wilbur lose Charlotte and learn to fend for himself. Read more

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I finally found the secret to waking up early

Now that I am finally writing again, I’m so excited to tell you what’s been happening. And I have all these pictures I took, thinking, this will be good for the blog. But then I didn’t write anything. Read more

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The secret weapon for helping people with Aspergers succeed as adults

I coached this guy Tanner who invented a thing to make milk flow smoothly in tubes and now he’s a millionaire tech CEO. During his fifteen-year marriage he’s scheduled sex with his wife, on a calendar, a year in advance. He was surprised to hear other couples do not do this. Read more

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How to give a compliment

I am in our weekend getaway hotel room watching Melissa follow the rules for dating. She is sprawled on the sofa reading while I brush my teeth with her toothbrush because I forgot mine. Read more

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What homeschooling and job-hopping trends have in common

That picture is from eight years ago. Me with my cofounders for Brazen Careerist. Here’s what that site looks like now. Hopefully the company will exit soon because I would really like to cash in my founder’s stock. Read more

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The reason we stink at solving our own problems (and how I get along with my ex-husband)

I am in the car with the Ex and the kids.  The Ex plays a Yeastie Girls CD, which was probably mine but he wanted it in the divorce. It’s a live concert and in the middle they start giving away speculums to promote women’s health. Read more

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