Newsletter
I just finished reading Shubeik Lubeik, a graphic novel from the Egyptian writer and artist Deena Mohamed. It’s a wonderful imagining of a modern Egypt in which wishes are bought, sold, regulated, and used. One of my favorite parts of the book focuses on a regret, on undoing the
Newsletter
A perfect martini is one with half sweet vermouth and half dry vermouth: “perfect” is a type of martini, not a description of the martini. A dry martini is one with dry vermouth, so asking for a martini to be “very dry” should mean that it has extra dry vermouth,
Newsletter
Kate Bowler wrote a best-selling memoir of her young diagnosis of and treatment for cancer called Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved). I read it when I had a similar cancer diagnosis, though I’d heard of the book (and loved the title) before
Newsletter
I wasn’t raised to be a planner. There were no big events, like vacations or trips, to break up the weekly patterns. I saw friends daily in school or three times a week in religious meetings. There were a religious assemblies a couple of times a year in another
Newsletter
What is it about achievements that are so important? The philosopher Gwen Bradford proposes that the value of an achievement isn’t in the final product, but in the difficulty we have to overcome to get there. It’s our will we’re praising, not its results. That seems right:
Newsletter
I got my PhD in 2011, and, since then, I have formally used the title “Dr.” twice, both in the first few months after getting it. The first time, I was signing up for a magazine subscription, and when the website asked for a title, I decided that I had