Hey Medium, I’m embarking on a new adventure… home — Sitting around the glow of a summer fire six years ago, I heard an uncle talk about how my young father taught him how to drive a car when he was fifteen. …

British Petroleum created a ridiculously effective marketing campaign to obfuscate and deflect blame onto individuals — These days, like the legendary Seth Godin, I see just about everything through the lens of marketing. From electoral campaigns to political movements, from Pumpkin Spice lattes’ twelve years without any real pumpkin to guru entrepreneurs like SBF, Elizabeth Holmes, or Bill freaking Gates claiming they’ll save the world, and…

An attempt to capture what it means to have the opportunity to live in one of the world’s most awe-inspiring cities — Anthony Bourdain had an uncanny ability to portray the essence of a place. His introductory monologues were so freaking inspiring and something I’ll forever attempt to emulate. How the hell can you capture the energy of a city in words? They’re such unique, ever-changing, and living expressions of society, culture…

Navigating divided, rural America and a case study in media manipulation — It had been three years. Three years since I’d stood on the shores of Lake Superior, staring at the ruler-straight, blue horizon in the distance, feet on round smooth stones, numbing in the clear water. …

It’s in our bones — Wood — often cedar, a touch of smoke, and a hint of must: that’s the smell of a proper sauna. Every one is a positive for humanity, but the best saunas are ancient, tiny stand-alone buildings the size of a shed or small garage; they have a little changing room…

Navigating the identity crisis after teaching in foreign countries — Madrid, August 2010, it was one of those sweaty Spanish summer nights where the midday heat refuses to leave, and the air just hangs around, seemingly with no place to go and too far away from the coast to be nudged by the famous Levante, Poniente, or Leche wind patterns…

If ya don’t knooo, now ya knooo — I absolutely love a good accent, and I have a theory that ugly accents don’t exist, and it always depends on the person it’s coming out of. …

Attempting to set some goals for this endeavor — As much as I would like to dive right into the details of Upper Michigan and the peculiarities of the “dontcha knoooo” accent, it’s important to first show the roadmap and give reasons for embarking on this bizarre yet hopefully beautiful journey. Why, after nine years in Europe, having a…

Answering that takes a bit more than a single blog, and requires laying some groundwork — “Yes, real uncles.” Whenever I tell someone I have 18 Uncles, I get the same follow-up, “Like, eighteen real uncles?” And I have to confirm, ”Yes, real uncles.” Most either assume they’re in my imagination, or it’s a cultural “Uncle” Paulie, “Uncle” Silvio Dante, and “Uncle” Tony Soprano situation. Then…