I’ll be back to Maine next week for Thanksgiving with my husband’s folks. It should be fun. The day after Amos and I got married, I met my new Aunt Beth. She brought out a long genealogy that outlined my husband’s mother’s family’s place in the world. These, of course, are…
I’ve previously shared what I know of modern Kazakh names, as have other authors. But what about ancestral names? My motivation here is a growing connection to the SCA, a group fond of historical fencing, archery, brewing, and crafts. These American hobbyists connect to European history by developing a historical…
You’ve probably heard of “culture shock,” that initial wallop when everything’s different. Some folks, like Debbie Stephens, hit a wall when they’ve “bathed and washed my hair in a bucket… eaten with monkeys, been roommates with scorpions… and eaten foods I can’t pronounce.” But you can also experience “culture…
As I mentioned, I recently tried being a guy on Facebook to see what would happen. But even as a guy, I still only see the ladies. Not that my lady friends try to be dominant; in fact, many are quite self-effacing. But with 400+ lady friends, the posts-photos-ads-articles all reinforce each other: inspirational…
Recently, I got fed up with being a lady on Facebook. The marketing. The advertisements for empowered baby clothes (“she’s a rocket scientist!”) and faintly healthy food (“try three papaya-sweet corn bars for only $12.99!”). I tried adjusting my ad settings, denying my prior interests in travel, science, and…
We’ve tried spreadsheets. We’ve tried task management apps. We’ve tried to-do lists. Yet my husband Amos* and I are terrible at making decisions. I, for one, prefer to ruminate… research… discuss every option with *all* my friends (surprisingly few are left…) …and then make weighted decision matrices to take…
“Do you need this?” I ask, holding up the ballerina music box. “…And this?” I hold up a handful of seashells and a crushed sand dollar in a plastic baggie. Julie shakes her head. I quickly sort things into piles, pulling her back into the room when she starts…
Last fall, I co-led a biweekly reading group on race and procedural justice for my local community. Our participants included a pastor, scientist, software engineer, writer, librarian, mathematician, and startup employee—a range of Asian and Anglo middle class folks
My grandfather Bob Fischer passed away today, just shy of his 81st birthday. A few years ago, I asked him to tell me about his childhood, his working life, and his family life. Our conversation is long, but I’d love to share it with you. I’m happy to pass it…
This week, Sarah Bessey sparked a twitter conversation that rapidly took flight among Christian men and women. Women continue to share painful and even surreal experiences under the #ThingsOnlyChristianWomenHear hashtag– some of which I’ve reflected on here. Yet the conversation has quickly taken a hopeful note, as both men and women…