Life Experiences

The first thing people ask is usually, “Don’t you get bored?”

The second is, “What happens if you have an emergency?”

Nobody ever asks the question that actually matters.

[Read more…] about The Truth About Living in the Middle of Nowhere

People hear the word “headache” and immediately think they understand.

They don’t.

What I have isn’t something you lie down with until it passes. It isn’t something you take an aspirin for and complain about at work. It’s something that completely takes over your body, your mind, and eventually your life.

[Read more…] about Living With the World’s Most Painful Headache

I don’t expect anyone to automatically believe me.

In fact, if there’s one thing I hope you take away from my story, it’s that you shouldn’t.

For about a year, I worked for a public relations contractor whose job was to influence conversations online. I won’t name the company. I signed paperwork that still makes me careful about specifics. But I can tell you what the work actually looked like, because the public imagines armies of sophisticated hackers sitting behind glowing monitors. The reality was much more ordinary.

[Read more…] about Confessions of a Professional Shill

I am thirty-eight years old. Before the war, my life revolved around international trade, contracts, shipping schedules, and the ordinary frustrations of office work. Military service wasn’t supposed to define my life. I served years ago as a mortar operator, returned to civilian life, and thought that chapter was over. Then history decided otherwise.

When Russia launched the full-scale invasion, I put the suit back in the closet and traded spreadsheets for artillery.

[Read more…] about A Ukrainian Artillery Commander on the New Rules of War

For most of my life, I thought my childhood was normal.

My parents didn’t believe in traditional school. They believed in something called “unschooling.” The idea wasn’t that kids should never learn. It was almost the opposite. They believed children are naturally curious and that if you let them experience the world, they’d figure out what they needed to know on their own.

[Read more…] about What It’s Really Like to Grow Up Unschooled

When I was almost twenty one years old, my parents sat me down and told me something I never expected to hear.

They told me I was born with Down syndrome.

I just looked at them.

I didn’t know what to say.

I thought maybe they were joking at first.

[Read more…] about “I Didn’t Know I Had Down Syndrome Until I Was Almost 21”

Whenever people find out I attended Institut Le Rosey, the conversation almost always begins the same way. They want to know about the billionaires, the royalty, the celebrities, and the eye-watering tuition.

They ask whether private jets really landed nearby, whether everyone wore designer clothes, whether the stories they’ve heard online are actually true.

The answer to most of those questions is yes.

[Read more…] about I Went to the Most Expensive School in the World

Before my daughter was born, I thought I understood what fatherhood would look like.

I imagined birthday parties. Little League games. Teaching her to ride a bike. Helping with homework. Someday, impossibly far in the future, walking her down the aisle.

Those were the moments I pictured.

[Read more…] about 2:53 AM

I’m a Workforce Optimization Consultant. That’s the official title, anyway. Unofficially? I’m the guy companies bring in when they need to fire people—but don’t have the guts to do it themselves. It’s not glamorous. It’s not noble. But it’s honest work, and I’m good at it.

[Read more…] about Confessions of a Professional “Hatchet Man”