In a perfect* world, fiction writers and authors would be fairly compensated for their time and effort spent working for others and themselves, and could therefore afford to hire all of the other professionals needed to bring their stories to the public. …

As a writer who has published literally millions of words online both personally and professionally, it’s practically guaranteed that at least some of my writing has been used to train large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. …

Let’s start by saying that labeling people as “addicts” is problematic. It blames individuals for the choices they were limited to due to systemic societal problems. That’s been my perspective since grad school, when my degree problem had a lot of overlapping coursework with the addictions counseling program. This article…

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, they did not respect my wishes. I was experiencing some nasty respiratory issues over the weekend that convinced me to schedule a COVID PCR test on Monday. …

For all of my breast reduction care team at Samaritan Hospital on Sept. 11, 2023: I am renewing my request for reverse isolation protocols that were reviewed by a bureaucratic team and denied to me last week. I cannot force anyone to wear an N95 mask, but I can beg you to, for my sake. I will think less of anyone who chooses not to…

You have until tomorrow (September 8, 2023) to submit your public comment to the CDC regarding updated COVID vaccine availability, which they’re considering limiting to only people over the age of 75 and immunocompromised people like me. This is unacceptable. Please click the link and submit your own letter. …

Last week, there were two days during which I got the only Good nights of sleep I’ve gotten since buying my smartwatch a few months ago. This tracks with how I’ve felt upon waking. I was actually able to rest and recover from a stressful weekend. What changed? …

Until a few years ago, one of my most traumatic food-related childhood memories was still trotted out as a joke at family gatherings, particularly Sunday dinners at my mom’s house, which we went to every week before the pandemic. It was a bowl of goulash. I doubt the way my…

Although I’ve previously needed medical care at urgent care and emergent care facilities on multiple occasions in the past, January 13–14 was my first experience as a patient in an actual hospital emergency room. This is an exceptionally long piece, so you may want to choose to listen to it…