"Seriously?" I said to myself, to my wife, to the ether. I stopped our neighborhood stroll, needing reconciliation. "What?" Keti asked, tone dripping with insinuation. What's this about to be? We need to cook dinner. "Look," I pointed at a neighbor's porch. Barely visible, through the leaves of a verdant maple, was a pumpkin. A … Continue reading Newsletter #119: I Loathe Pumpkins in August
Tag: Burnout
Newsletter #111: Turn Off the Lights
While in medicine, I lived—and hunted—across an Alaskan summer. Day or night, I tracked illuminated targets. Guesswork eliminated, I shot well. And ate well. "Why's that so bad?" you might ask. "Isn't success what matters? Why not enjoy the sun? Get a nice tan?" If Where The Red Fern Grows—a book representing 100% of my … Continue reading Newsletter #111: Turn Off the Lights
Newsletter #110: I Owe My Neighbor A Six Pack
I didn't sleep much last night. Because every time I rolled over, I replayed Haliburton's pull-up jumpshot hovering in the air for what seemed like a blue-zone lifespan. Again and again, I watched the basketball float and spin and descend, then kiss gently off the rim and through the net. Pacers win. Thunder lose. I … Continue reading Newsletter #110: I Owe My Neighbor A Six Pack
Newsletter #108: Whatever It Takes for Work
For inspiration, let us look to my tattoo artist's story. At eighteen—not yet tattooed himself—he walked into a tattoo shop in the Florida town where he grew up and said, "I want a job. I want to be a tattoo artist." The shop, a bristly biker scene, wasn't receptive. The owner told him to get … Continue reading Newsletter #108: Whatever It Takes for Work
Newsletter #107: One Day You’ll Feel Better
First year of medical school, we were forced to take one humanities course. I chose Medicine and Literature. Our teacher was a retired Dean of Medicine. Bald as a basketball, round spectacled, and perpetually bow-tied, he could enter the room and own your respect without saying a word. Still cycling, he was spryer than us … Continue reading Newsletter #107: One Day You’ll Feel Better
Newsletter #106: Maybe I’m A Psycho
Before the pandemic, my screen time report was respectable. At the gym, I wouldn't listen to anything at all. Maybe I'm a psycho but it felt better, simpler, to just lift. I often left my phone in the apartment on short errands. No push notifications. I didn't yet have Twitter. Covid broke me. Well, covid, … Continue reading Newsletter #106: Maybe I’m A Psycho
Newsletter #103: The Unquestioned
Most mornings, I lock my phone into 'Do Not Disturb', shun the news, and generally avoid sound. I want unimpeded clarity. I have one shot to set sail with clarity. Because the morning's tailwind will only last so long. By afternoon, my phone miraculously exits 'Do Not Disturb' and news sneaks into my awareness as … Continue reading Newsletter #103: The Unquestioned
Newsletter #97: To Hell in a Handbasket, or…
I wrestled my backpack free from under the seat and unzipped its front. My fingers traced the pocket's compartments, searching for the rounded contour of my AirPods. They found nothing. Except a rock-hard, half-eaten Larabar from trips past. This is gonna be a loooonng cross-country flight. I did have a steaming cup of black coffee … Continue reading Newsletter #97: To Hell in a Handbasket, or…
Newsletter #94: A Legend If I’ve Ever Met One
Last Saturday night, at the tires of a truck driving too fast, we lost a friend and hero: our neighbor's tuxedo cat, Rainbow Houseboat. That's one hard-to-live-up-to name—given by the neighbor's children—but not only was the name lived up to, it was mythologized as legend. One evening, I watched her stalk a herd of eight … Continue reading Newsletter #94: A Legend If I’ve Ever Met One
Newsletter #93: Do Something. Anything.
After a furniture project finished ahead of schedule Monday, another one fell through entirely on Tuesday. Suddenly, my week was open. Being the end of the month, I didn't like this freedom one bit; I wanted paid work. Bills were being billed. Savings needed saved. Roth's needed Roth'd. Inside this time affluence, two paths appeared: … Continue reading Newsletter #93: Do Something. Anything.
