Aug 24Member-onlyPronouns are polarizing us: Respect theirs, but it’s OK to withhold yours“I hate and mistrust pronouns, every one of them as slippery as a fly-by-night personal-injury lawyer” — Stephen King There’s a writing group in Astoria, Queens, New York. We meet every Wednesday at around 6:30 pm, grab a coffee and croissant, and then shut up and write. After the hour…Pronouns4 min readPronouns4 min read
Published inCoinmonks·May 2Member-onlySearching for Satoshi: A tale with a twisterNakamoto isn’t one person. Could they be five? No disputing that pronoun. It must have been an ad for online crypto casino. That’s what started this a couple of years ago. Bitstarz. That was the casino. I normally don’t click ads but something about its insistence on provable fairness piqued…Bitcoin3 min readBitcoin3 min read
Aug 5, 2022Member-onlyHow many of these top 10 pieces of ‘word trash’ are you using? Try these 3 ‘word power’ words instead…You’re sure to recognize these everyday words and phrases that clutter our emails, meetings, and chats. Sometimes it feels like a day of work conversations could be summarized into a string of what I call “word trash.” “Can we take this offline, circle back, and touch base tomorrow? I have a hard stop at 5, but I want this to stay top of mind.” “How’s everything?” …Language7 min readLanguage7 min read
Oct 18, 2020Member-onlyHow to Marie Kondo Your Words: 3 Word Tips in 30 Seconds3 Word Tips for connecting better (from my new book, Word Wise): 1) Ctrl + F on the word “Just” and delete: A Google executive banned the word “just” from her team’s communications after she realized that striking it from a phrase clarified and strengthened the message. 2) Start requests…Words2 min readWords2 min read
Oct 20, 2019Member-onlyDo you have to do that?‘Ought once was, of all things, the past tense of owe […] But when you owe, you’re under an obligation,’ says English Professor, John McWorter. Obligation is a synonym of need, and so our word-bowel movements evolve from moral dumps (of should) into need-diarrhea. I was whatsapping a friend and a ‘I have to go to a wedding’ message popped up next to her RBF profile photo. My response: “Ok but you want to go to the wedding so I’m curious about you saying ‘I have to go’ rather than ‘I’m going’.”Life2 min readLife2 min read
Published inThrive Global·Oct 8, 2018Can religion make you happier?How four religions shape up against the five happiness muscles. I was Christened. Not by choice. I’m neither atheist, nor agnostic. I believe we are all tiny fragments of Universal Consciousness and Universal Conscious Creator (UC and UCC. You see, see?) Ego is the opposite. I like the Edging God Out interpretation, or ESO: Edging Soul Out. Each religion is…Religion9 min readReligion9 min read
Sep 26, 2018Member-onlyCan religion make you happier?How four religions shape up against the five happiness muscles. I was Christened. Not by choice. I’m neither atheist, nor agnostic. I believe we are all tiny fragments of Universal Consciousness and Universal Conscious Creator (UC and UCC. You see, see?) Ego is the opposite. I like the Edging God Out interpretation, or ESO: Edging Soul Out. Each religion is…Religion9 min readReligion9 min read
Apr 12, 2018Member-onlyTrader Joe’s Workers Are Happier Than Whole Foods Workers. Here’s Why.Trader Joe’s outscored Whole Foods on all seven measures of employee happiness in a recent survey. — One shopper exits as another arrives at the Trader Joe’s Chelsea store. Photograph: Will Jelbert I live in Chelsea, home of art galleries, gays, a market and pier, the most Chipotles in one neighborhood, and a Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. I am a grocery store whore. As unfaithful to…Whole Foods8 min readWhole Foods8 min read
Published inThrive Global·Mar 29, 2018An Insta Story (Or Poem)(This poem is also available as a parody rap and video here) What seems to be a nonstop stream, Fine dining and living the dream. Correspondence bias, ego plates, we compare but no one relates. Your mind on poses for posting, loses senses, stops noticing. Letch, Letch, Letch the ego, …Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read
Mar 29, 2018Member-onlyAn Insta Story (Or Poem)(This poem is also available as a parody rap and video here) What seems to be a nonstop stream, Fine dining and living the dream. Correspondence bias, ego plates, we compare but no one relates. Your mind on poses for posting, loses senses, stops noticing. Letch, Letch, Letch the ego, …Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read
