It’s hard to believe I began this tradition in 2007, something that feels like several lifetimes ago. Since then it’s taken place all across this hemisphere, from NYC’s Lower East Side to its Upper West, from Los Angeles to Florida, from San Francisco to Seattle, and now to hipster Bushwick. It’s al...

This guided meditation is 8 minutes long with an extra 5 minutes more of music by my talented friend David Buchs You can stream it here or download in the link below. Giving-Meditation-1-1Download

It was so out of character for me, I could hardly believe it. Real life experience was contradicting several of my most unshakeable core beliefs about myself and how I function in the world.  In fact, it took several minutes of multiple facts staring me in the face before I finally had to admit ...

Sometimes noise-canceling headphones are not enough. Especially when the asking is loud and clear, it can cut through anything. You see, although 95% of the time Vlad drops the ball directly in front of his chosen candidate for fetch, occasionally he will approach from behind. He always gives his ...

I probably should blame myself more. And I’m honestly not sure how much this is innate or because of my bad parenting but… Vlad has a level of Personal Confidence that easily wanders into Entitlement. To be frank, I find the way that Vlad asks for anything––and you could substitute other verbs for...

Looking back at the life lessons I’ve consistently failed to learn, certain themes dominate. One of them might kindly be called Optimistic Overconfidence, particularly around timing. I did, however, once demonstrate an extremely rare moment of early mastery in this arena. Namely, during college I ...

I don’t think he learned it from Bill Gates. (At least not directly). But as I was reading through the next section of Essentialism, I couldn’t help but wonder about yet another quirky, self-taught aspect of Vlad’s behavior. (And it’s one that’s escalated considerably now that the Brooklyn tempera...

Last Sunday, Vlad and I accidentally got caught up in a mob. (One brimming with teeth and claws.) Innocently enough, we were headed out for our early afternoon walk to the wine store when we spied a roving pack of dogs at the intersection. Vlad immediately recognized our friend Miku the Weimerehne...

I hate to be gender-normative (or even breed-ist) and yet… At the end of the day, my chocolate lab Belle was always the perfect lady. She was the straight-A student (and class president) who was kind to all her friends and still found time to read to the blind. Vlad is…well… A lovable bad boy m...