Stop finding reasons for young abusers and treat them as what they are: problems. And they need to be stopped. — Ah, school bullies. Many have had them, many have been them. Many have watched them from the sidelines as they abuse other kids and torment whoever they decide to target. Anyone on the receiving end can tell you: these kids are assholes. Big, stinky, worthless assholes who not only do…

This is an open letter to all those who argue the personhood of the American fetus. You win! I’ll go ahead and pretend to believe, unequivocally, that a fetus is a person and has a person’s rights. I still have the legal and ethical right to get an abortion if…

A stream of consciousness let loose from the void. A word-offering. The burden of writing worlds into existence. — The burden and the wonder of writing is this: we have been tasked with describing the indescribable, and we are either arrogant or innocent enough to do it. Over and over again, without fail. Have you ever gone back to a story you told and felt the power of the…

Long ago, the Earl of Oxford approached the illustrious throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I. He knew courtly manners inside and out, had likely performed perfect bows a hundred times before. He knelt low before his Queen, graceful and poised… And he ripped ass. Really ripped ass. It was…

It’s not idealism to say that writers run the modern world. We need to take that power and use it like never before. — For all our touting of phrases like “the pen is mightier than the sword,” or “stories move us all,” many day-to-day writers hardly consider the possibility that they––that you––have real, tangible power over the world. To this, I say: Who the f*** else can reach thousands of people in digital…

Free-for-all policies mean chaos for the rest of us. Who woulda thunk? — Imagine, if you will, a society without any enforceable rules. Not just written rules, mind you––no unspoken ones, normative ones, or basic-social-contract ones, either. For the sake of my metaphor, bear in mind that this society is just like ours. …

If you’re having a crisis of confidence (or just an existential crisis in general), this one’s for you. — There are as many tropes about imperfection (i.e. failure, wrong-ness, or un-rightness) as there are craters on the moon. There are sayings, platitudes, motivational speeches, motivational posters, cultural flashpoints, songs, comics… You get the point. Clearly, humanity has been feeling some type of way about this––now more than ever. Personally…

What really defines a “hiatus,” anyway? Maybe it’s not as black-and-white as we think. — I hate Japanese Stiltgrass. This absolutely prolific invader––scientific name microstegium vimineum, or in my own book, grassus asholicus––sneaks in through sidewalk cracks and gardens unnoticed and seemingly innocuous. Within weeks it can completely overrun acres of forest, wetland, or hillside, and it’s nearly impossible to get rid of.

Think child marriage has ended in the USA? Think Again. The issue is more urgent than ever — but today’s digital era has given us new tools to save girls and stop the cycle. — Girls who are married before maturity are significantly less likely to attain an education . Many (over 50%) drop out of school , and a significant portion of them become pregnant before they turn 18. They are more vulnerable to abuse, marital rape, and other crimes, and they experience higher…