The American tale of a nuclear family — In July 1945 the first detonation of a nuclear weapon happened in the New Mexico desert. It happened at a place called the Trinity Site. Until just a few months ago, a large part of the modern world had forgotten, didn’t know, or didn’t really care about that fact. The…

Or, learning that I don’t have to be the good girl anymore. — The silliest thing happened to me on a recent airplane flight. After I thought about the whole thing for way too long, I realized with clarity that I was the villain in another person’s story. Owing to a strict and quite Catholic upbringing, I’ve spent so much of my life…

The last day of summer — Once a year the trash company that services my local community hosts a “clean up week.” It’s sort of an olly-olly-oxen-free for getting rid of the kind of stuff that you can’t donate or might be too big to put in your car and take to the dump. It’s somehow…

Anise and cinnamon-flavored memories — As summer gives way to fall, inevitably I begin to get homesick. It starts as a quiet longing and soon grows to a sense of both sadness and urgency. New Mexico, where I grew up, is beautiful any time of the year. Autumn is when it really shows its true…

The passion of the font choice — When change occurs solely for the sake of change, my natural reaction is to resist. Which is how I categorize the news that Microsoft is changing its default font. A change of typeface: Microsoft’s new default font has arrived Introducing Aptos, our modern successor to Calibrimedium.com Fonts matter, both because I am a writer and because I review documents for a living.

My hopes and dreams deserve more than a wall — While reading the book “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” I was introduced to the concept of “Before I die” walls. Started as an art project in New Orleans, it’s been adopted by several other cities. A wall where people can chalk out an answer to the question: Before I…

Telling the truth in a world that rewards fiery pants — A friend recently shared an adorable little meme on Instagram. It was really meant to be targeted to the GenX crowd and to elicit a little laugh. To be honest, the meme made me a little bit anxious. …

Finding my way back to a band I first came to know and love back in 1976 — Over the years, my friends and I have talked about the songs that make up the soundtrack of our lives. We get in a groove where we name songs or throw out band names followed by a collective “yesss!” …

Keep these tips handy, you just might need them — After these past three years, as I’m emerging from the relative safety and comfort of my home, I’m finding that the world isn’t exactly as I left it. People seem to be, shall we say… a little on edge. I get it, we’re all a little tired from the scare…