ArcaMax

They were studying for finals and grabbing snacks from the student union on a gossamer spring day. Each flashcard and burrito and blanket on a lawn comprised the unspoken curriculum of life. A crop of new adults becoming who they will be.

And then the thing happened. Let's be honest, the thing they always knew was coming. The thing they've ...Read more

Hi, and welcome to your new dishwasher! We hope you enjoy the experience of not quite getting your dishes clean every day for the rest of your life. This manual will take you through some of the finer points of using your exciting appliance.

First, please know that you must load the dishwasher in order for it to work. Stacking rinsed dishes ...Read more

How did you spend Liberation Day? I celebrated President Donald Trump announcing confounding reciprocal tariffs on worldwide trading partners by wondering how much money to hide inside my mattress, fielding inquiries from mortgage brokers and listening to the new Kesha song. It's like we never made it out of 2009.

With the stock market ...Read more

Eyes up, children. It's 2025, and you can say goodbye to Takis and Mountain Dew Code Red by the pool. Government is getting more efficient, and fast. That means everyone will have to work harder, including those of you with a still-soft prefrontal cortex.

It's time you learned a few things about life. We're dumping boring meetings held in ...Read more

Last weekend, I ventured on a wee break to the Rainbow River in Dunnellon, Florida, with friends. You know, clumsy kayaking, steamy morning java, birds and otters aplenty. The group discouraged phone use, a disorienting prospect in 2025 when national policy unfolds via unhinged tweets at all hours of the night.

While I didn't go cold turkey ...Read more

I spoke to a women's group last week about writing columns, working in news, hitting deadlines and all things Hot Global Mess. After the event, I chatted with a couple folks who shared similar sentiments: They're burned out.

The first woman tearfully said she saved a recent column I wrote about not wanting to talk about the news because it ...Read more

Things I did this week:

Made list titled "Things I did this week."

Crossed off "make list." Very strong start, productive, busy, etc.

Decided to document all activity for Elon Musk to personally review. I do not work for the federal government. Still, it seems helpful to supply data in advance, trying to delay the inevitable draft of ...Read more

"Maybe you just aren't fun anymore," a reader wrote to me recently. With all due respect to this reader, are you fun? No, please, are you having it? What is so fun out there, hmm? Is someone having a party full of Nerds Gummy Clusters and total disassociation?

Apparently, the tone around this column space has trended too serious for some ...Read more

First, the Florida of it all registers. Oranges, gators, crystal blue skies full of possibility.

Then, something else dawns in the opening breaths of "Nickel Boys." The film is shot in a first-person lens. We, the viewer, embody Elwood Curtis, an ambitious Black teen growing up in 1960s Tallahassee. He's the one looking up at oranges, and by ...Read more

I recently watched two documentary series that unpacked slices of zeitgeist from the 1990s and 2000s. One was "Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story," the other, "Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action."

Both series illuminated an era rife with cartoonish sexcapades and violent, Roman arena-style fighting. I lived through it, of course, and at ...Read more

Hi! What is the Gulf of Mexico?

I will answer the question with more questions, an old sales trick: Have you heard of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama or Florida? Have you been to a beach? Did you not witness the 2024 hurricane season? Did the schools fail you this badly?

There's no reason to be like that.

You're right...Read more