Thank you, readers, for subscribing to this newsletter, especially those with a paid account. I’ve been writing for over twenty years now. Some of you have been with me since my early blog years around 2003, and then followed me to print magazines and Substack. Since writing is my vocation, I rarely hit y’all up … Continue reading Support This Newsletter: Subscribe or Amazon Prime| Apt. 11d
Back when schools were closed during COVID — the school closures lasted about a year and a half in New Jersey — I irritated people by saying that this was a bad idea. Because it was really destroyi…| Apt. 11d
My oldest son, Jonah, told me that the worst thing that I ever did was give him an iPhone when he was ten years old. I gave it to him then because he had to walk home from the middle school on his own, while I waited for his brother’s special ed bus to drop … Continue reading Touch Grass: Go outside. Connect with others. Have fun.| Apt. 11d
Because I’ve been working multiple stressful jobs for the past year, I suddenly hit a wall last week. Luckily, I already planned to take a week break from my day job. Since Steve and I didn’t have the energy to organize a trip to Paris, we ended up staying at home. Which was precisely what … Continue reading It’s a Bed Rotting, Drinking, Self-Care Kinda Day: Five For Friday, September 26, 2026| Apt. 11d
I caught about two seconds of Trump’s press conference on autism yesterday, before I turned off the television in disgust. It was too cringe and predictable. He announced that Tylenol causes a…| Apt. 11d
By now, you probably know that Charlie Kirk, the young conservative pundit, was assassinated at a college in Utah. Things were already dicey on places like Reddit and X after the murder of the young girl on a North Carolina subway. Iryna Zarutska, a refugee from the Ukraine-Russia war, was stabbed in the neck by an insane, repeat criminal, while … Continue reading Charlie Kirk Was Assassinated: Things are going to get messy| Apt. 11d
When you’re a writer who talks about big trends and ideas, it really does help to live outside of the DC/NYC bubble. Back when I was an education reporter, I regularly went to parent-teacher meetin…| Apt. 11d
True story. My husband and I — two PhDs, who loved school so much that we stayed in graduate school until our mid-30s — did not save for our own children’s college education. We basically had no money to put away for their college education due to the delayed employment issue. One of our kids … Continue reading College is a Pyramid Scheme: But We Can’t Quit it| Apt. 11d
I passed a traumatic milestone birthday in August. There were no celebrations. I didn’t mention it to anyone at work. I told my friends not to give me gifts. I accepted this new stage of life with grace, humor, and humility. Or not. And then I ordered more skin cream from Instagram advertisements. On the … Continue reading Milestones, Mine and Ian’s: As time goes on, things always get better.| Apt. 11d
Steve and I are binge-watching The Gilded Age, a historical drama set in the 1880s. It features real historical figures, like Carrie Astor and J.P. Morgan, as well as fictionalized versions of…| Apt. 11d
People have been moving out of blue states and urban areas for a while. Due to results from the last census, New York lost a congressional seat, and Texas got two. The pandemic has created more shi…| Apt. 11d
Last weekend, Ian had a 48-hour EEG. We recently reduced his dosage of his epilepsy medicine drastically, because of side effects. The doctor wanted to see if the micro-dose that he was taking was …| Apt. 11d
