Why we left, illustrated in two photos
On Saturday, the best and the worst elements in America were both on display. Sadly, the worst appears to be winning.
Latest
Five great reads on Medium
There are some fantastic writers on this platform - if you know where to look
We should all spend less time online
Reddit is not reality
Higher ed on the chopping block
Many U.S. universities depend on international student tuition to stay afloat - what happens now?
Setting the record straight
The powerful escape responsibility while the real heroes are erased.
Ghost stories
My favorite sites on the platform.
Free from this
I can't be the only one who really remembers 2016, right?
How do they know how we voted?
If ballots are anonymous, how is demographic information about voters obtained? The answer: Exit polls.
Basic human rights versus your grocery bill
Why that's a false dichotomy
This is what mass deportation looks like
Think long and hard about how what this could lead to.
Join me on Bluesky
To me, it feels the most like OG Twitter - a place to read others' opinions and information - uncluttered by the bots, spam, and trolls that are ruining the other platform.
Still glancing back ..
I have been thinking a lot about diasporas lately. What it means to live long term in a society outside the one you were raised in.
Personal
Why I'm excited to vote for Kamala Harris
She will be the standard bearer for a compelling alternate vision for the future of the United States.
Personal
Still American
On loving and leaving the United States
Writing (Links)
Did Google shoot itself in the search engine?
AI Overviews prove not ready for prime time
Writing (Links)
In which I try to make 'fetch' happen
I think anyone who has ever used Google Maps to get directions can see the potential pitfalls of letting AI tell you where you go for Sunday dinner or the best local dry cleaners - let alone anything of greater consequence.
Writing (Links)
A blog by any other name ...
I read so many Substacks, in fact, that it can take up my entire morning--reading my subscriptions on the app, then commenting, then noticing who has 're-stacked' one of my articles . . . Wait, what does this remind me of?
Personal
Death by chocolate
I overindulged over the long Easter holiday - not in beer - as is the local custom - but in sugar. Family from home sent us a care package of yummy chocolate bunnies, eggs and truffles. And my 16-year-old daughter has discovered baking (thanks a lot, Preppy Kitchen!). She spent
Work
Me and ChatGPT
I'm over here like Violet Crawley looking through her fan at this horrible electric lighting.
Personal
An open letter to Duolingo
Please make the early levels more tourist-friendly.
Reading
Book Review: 'The Downstairs Girl' by Stacey Lee
Jo Kuan, the protagonist and titular Downstairs Girl, is a Chinese American teenager living in Atlanta, Georgia just after the end of the U.S. Civil War.
Personal
This is your brain on menopause
I'm not wrong. It turns out menopause can break your brain.
Reading
What I'm reading on Substack
I love that they are promoting individual voices. Jury is still out on supporting the platform, though.
Reading
I got 'reader's block' in 2023
This time last year, I made what I thought was a simple (and easy!) new year's resolution to read a total of 12 books in 2023.