The two basic types of English nouns point to two basically different types of knowledge. Here's what each can teach us about how to know each other.
Listen Skeptically
In 20 years as a writer and editor, I've learned to give everyone the benefit of my doubts-or at least to try.
If You Can Read This, Thank Ms. Aspinall
This week, I paused to think about the things I have to be thankful for--and remembered a teacher from Annandale High School.
What We Must Accept, and What We Never Should
An open letter to my daughters in the wake of a disappointing election.
From “Want” to “Will-Work-For”
Figuring out what you'll work for can teach you a lot about what you want.
3 Reasons Not to Worry About Finding Your Passion
"Pursue your passion" has become stock advice. But I'm not convinced it's right.
Finding the Right Words
It's mostly the distance between us that makes the right words hard to find. But it's the failure to find words--any words--that increases the distance between us.
Who Needs this Learning Stuff?
Dear Daughters, As you went back to school this week, one of you posed the question kids have been asking since the dawn of educational time: "when am I ever going to use this stuff?" You had in mind the contents of your lessons: the facts of history and the functions of algebra. But when …
3 Bits of Advice from Grandma
Dear Daughters, Sixteen years ago this week, my mother died from ovarian cancer. She was 59. All week, I've been thinking about what she would say to you now, if she could stop by for dinner some night. She would tell you how proud she was, for sure. She would gush about how smart and …
Why Parenting Has No App
In a world of scalable solutions and networked knowledge, parenting still feels messy and old fashioned--for good reason.
