ArcaMax

"Do you know why they call it a superstition?" Mr. Patrick, my sixth-grade teacher, asked the class. He had just told us about an old friend who died a horrific death with welts and boils, rashes and coughs, fevers and hallucinations, after refusing to heed the warnings and entering an ancient pyramid. The doctors didn't know what was ...Read more

"It's... bright."

This is about the closest thing to a compliment that the new shutters on my house and the new color of the front door have received.

Colorblindness runs in my family. I am not colorblind. I have what I believe to be a mild hue-blindness. The color wheel doesn't have as many options for me as it may for you. Where you see ...Read more

The bulk of those in my high school group of friends are a year older than I am. Recently, our group text thread was a robust conversation about whether they should attend their 20-year high school reunion. They chatted about whom they would want to see and whom they desperately would not want to see. But most of their interests and anxieties ...Read more

We are buffet people -- at least my dad's side of the family. Having grown up with little money and seemingly never quite enough to eat, my dad considers buffets the only kind of dining experience that makes any real sense.

"Why spend $9 on one plate of food when you could go to a buffet and spend $7.99 on six plates of food?" my dad would ...Read more

Humble brag: I am very adept at burning bridges. I may have a little arsonist in me. Emotional arsonist, that is, not the Smokey Bear kind of arsonist.

That said, when I was about 13 years old and trying desperately to look cool, my mom sneaked into my bedroom and did a random search of my backpack. There she found a Caboodle -- because it ...Read more

I bought myself beaded bracelets -- three, to be exact. Each has its own saying, up to 12 characters, of my choosing.

I've been doing a lot of self-work lately. I'm guessing it comes with this chapter of life -- when you see how you show up as a parent, as a partner, as a friend and for yourself and you want to do better. But every once ...Read more

Last week, I was visiting my parents in the home I grew up in. As always, they sent me home with relics of my youth that they found too precious to part with but no longer wanted cluttering their closets. Often, these items are tiny time capsules that can bring a tear to my eye. Whether it is something large, such as my wedding gown, or it is ...Read more