written by Malinda Webb If you asked me in February what I would be doing at the end of July, my answer would not have included, “Writing a blog about the challenging decisions regarding the return to school during a worldwide pandemic.” I’m fairly confident that none of us expected to be here. Yet, here … More In This Together: School 2020
For a long time, I didn’t *get* Anthony Bourdain. I thought he was just one of those machismo-fueled, egomaniacal celebrity chefs, who chose to be mean instead of having a personality. I finally picked up Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly and decided that I wasn’t wrong. But, I wasn’t right either. After reading … More Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
For the last three weeks, I haven’t been writing. When I finally felt capable of putting fingers to keys today, I wanted to work on my fiction or that series I was going to write about all the reasons I love Columbus. Instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about COVID-19 and what Columbus will look like … More Under Pressure
I read Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror and then immediately read So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, because, I guess I don’t want to feel happiness ever again. Let’s start with the book everyone has been telling you to read since the moment it was off the printing presses in 2018: So … More So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Note: I started writing these before COVID-19 hit the United States, but I’m going to post them while practicing self-quarantine and social distancing. If given the opportunity, what would you want to share with a huge national audience about your city? What would you want one of your favorite celebrities to know about your small … More My Columbus: Libraries
Image: Business Insider High-tech military equipment, a flesh eating disease, and ancient curses collide in this unapologetically modern twist on the gentleman-explorer narrative. Most books about white men exploring the jungle harken back to the grainy black-and-white days of Theodore Rosevelt or Queen Victoria but Douglas Preston’s trek in The Lost City of the Monkey … More The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
Morgan Harper is a progressive Democrat running to be the congressperson for Ohio’s 3rd district against incumbent Democrat Joyce Beatty who has been in office since 2012. Obviously, since moving to the 3rd District, I’ve voted for Beatty happily. When you’re up against Goliath, though, sometimes you need a David. Here’s why I’m voting for … More Why I’m Voting for Morgan Harper
I’m in my twenties and I’m not an avid home chef, so it’s no surprise that I’d never heard of Ruth Reichl. When her latest memoir, Save Me the Plums was released last Spring, I wasn’t remotely interested in reading it. Then, as it happens sometimes when you’re browsing the “currently available audio books” on … More Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
Washington Black is one of those books I heard about months ago and has been vaguely on my radar ever since. When I realized I’d be going to the Caribbean in January, I picked up a copy at a local bookstore because I like to read stories that are set in the places I’m visiting … More Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
When Kyle and I both managed to get five days off at the same time in January we immediately decided that we wanted to go somewhere warm. Through Kyle’s job with the airline, we’re able to “non-rev” (non-revenue) on flights for free or at very minimal cost (international flights). Non-revving is when you get to … More Saint Martin on Short Notice
The Ohioan 