Maybe Physical Stuff Is Overrated →

Early in 2016, I went to the post office and bought plenty of stamps. One strip of Valentine’s Day hearts. One strip of “Winter Fun.” After pledging — very publicly! — to be more intentional about mailing cards and gifts to my loved ones, I was sure that I would use up those stamps quickly.

It’s November, nearly December, and I still have half of those stamps. Luckily, the snowman stamps are coming back into season now. I felt a little funny using a Valentine’s Day heart to mail off a rent check in July. The sheet of stamps are a far too on-the-nose physical representation of my failure at my Best Self in 2016 resolution.

Phone Surveys, SATs, and Condoms →

Don’t Lie To Yourself About When You’re Spending Money →

My Best Self Spends More Money at the Post Office — The Billfold — Medium →

“In 2016, I want to become the kind of person who spends more of her money on things that make her loved ones smile.”

What My Therapist Would Want Me to Do With The Money I’m No Longer Spending On Her - The Billfold →

“While I’m not having too much difficulty adjusting to no longer having a Sunday evening appointment every other week, the biggest joy of being done with therapy is what it’s done for my budget.”

Job Hunting On Unemployment Benefits Can Seem Illogical - The Billfold →

“But I’m frustrated by working within this system, which straight-up discourages me from applying for more than one job on a Monday or finding part-time work to supplement my benefits. If I work at all on any given day, I lose one-fourth of my benefits for the week. That means unless what I’ll make exceeds those benefits, I lose money by working. I used to teach SAT prep, and could go back to that, but at the rates I was paid by my company it just isn’t worth my time.”

Clinic Escort Series: Rachel Goldfarb – Queens, New York | A is For →

“After nearly two and a half years volunteering as a clinic escort in Queens, NY, I thought I had heard it all. Our protesters always beat me to the clinic – they drive, and I’m on the subway in all its slow, weekend-track-work glory – and when I walk towards the front door in the morning, they will yell at me to “be an escort for life, not an escort for death!” I’ll grab a lab coat, maybe another cup of coffee, and head outside to get to work: walking patients down our busy sidewalk.

But about two months ago, the protesters started to surprise me again. Our protesters mostly come from the same church, and their pastor, a white man in late middle age, started preaching about how abortion is demonstrative of a “Twenty-first century slave-owner mentality.” I’ve since heard that phrase over and over, and it still shocks me.”

Hosting a Brunch in a Small Apartment for 40 People →

Uber’s Earth Day promotion isn’t so Earth-friendly →

There’s nothing quite as ironic as encouraging people to ride in cars in New York City in honor of Earth Day, but that’s Uber’s campaign…

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Some of my fellow white antiracist allies are horrified by what happened in Ferguson, MO on Sunday. I know this because it’s all we seem to be able to say about the issue. We are shocked, and horrified, and saddened. We mourn for the loss of yet another young Black man. We don’t understand how this keeps happening. This shooting even fits our narrative better than usual, since he was to start college this week. Michael Brown was supposed to be a success story in a few more years. Instead, a cop emptied his gun into an unarmed young man.

I know that you’re horrified. What are you doing about it?

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So You’re Horrified By What Happened in Ferguson: What Are You Doing About It?