Why really smart people have a tough time dating
I have a mini-confession to make: I wrote the Tao of Dating books specifically for really smart people (both women and men). The writing of the books was precipitated by the endemic dating woes on the...
View ArticleThe Fatal Flaws of Traditional Publishing (or: Why You Should Self-Publish)
In 2005, I left my job at a fancy consulting firm to start an online publishing business. That’s when I started to go to publishing conferences, just to see how the industry worked (and to wander like...
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The best languages to learn in college and beyond
One of the biggest pieces of advice that I dispense to the rising Harvard freshmen is to take language classes. Harvard does a fantastic job of teaching them, they’re a super-useful lifelong skill,...
View ArticleWhy I can’t stand the freakin’ holidays
There used to be a time when I really liked the holidays. Heck, it was vacation! Any excuse for no school was a good excuse for no school. It was actually called Christmas vacation then, until it...
View ArticleNotes from a great conference
I just came out of a four-day conference (which shall remain nameless), and it was such a life-affirming, mind-expanding, invigorating experience that I thought I would share my notes. I got doused by...
View ArticleWhat I learned at SXSW 2012
I recently got back from the South By Southwest Conference and had a marvelous time. One unusual thing that happened this time around was that several people asked me, “Why are you here?” It was a bit...
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Partial Continuous Ecstasy: Can You Reside in Bliss Around the Clock?
I want you to stop what you’re doing right now and really pay attention to… your breath. Slow down your breath, and make an effort to feel the air as it enters your nose. Maybe even pinpoint a...
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Taoism in Three Easy Pieces
It must have happened to you hundreds of times. There you are at a cocktail party, holding a mojito in one hand and holding forth on everything and nothing with the other, eliciting nods and knowing...
View ArticleImpressions: Amsterdam
Included with your admission ticket to the Concertgebouw is free coffee and tea before the concert, and wine at intermission. Sandwiches come with knife and fork. The biggest hills in town are...
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‘God’s Hotel’ by Victoria Sweet: a profoundly human book
A book that can delight you through its entertainments or instruct you with useful knowledge is a good book; one that does both is a great book. Rarely, a book comes along that not only instructs and...
View ArticleDr Obama, vaccination, and the health of a nation
Recently I read about a new movie about a person with polio. “Wow. I’m really lucky not to have gotten polio,” I thought, for the first time ever. A tingly wave of gratitude washed over me for...
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How to Write and Publish Your Book in 30 Days: A Guide for Busy People
Lately, I’ve been talking to many of my friends about getting their books published. Not that they have big, fat manuscripts lying around just waiting to be published. No, no — most of these people...
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Life, Death, Youth, the Red Book, Oprah and Truth: Harvard Commencement and...
One of the things that I remember best from my 15th college reunion was looking over at the 20th reunion people and noticing how impossibly old they looked. These were some paunchy, bald folks in dad...
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On pain and how to handle it
On the morning of Saturday, March 15, I woke up to shooting and stabbing pain down the right side of my neck, upper back and right arm. The pain encircled my ribs and was literally breathtaking. I...
View Article“Days of God”: A thrilling firsthand account of the Iranian Revolution
“Is that the sound of firecrackers, Mom?” “No. That’s the sound of bullets, Ali. You should stay inside.” That was my first revolution, in January 1979. We lived in the upper-middle class North Tehran...
View ArticleBook Review: On Looking – Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes
A fabulous blogger whom I hold in great respect turned me on to Alexandra Horowitz’s On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes. And who was I to resist eleven walks with expert eyes? If the whole point...
View ArticleIt’s not you — actually, it is you: friendship-terminating linguistic pet peeves
1) “Homogenous” instead of “homogeneous”: The correct word rhymes with “you’re a genius”, not with “erogenous.” Yeah, I know the verb is “homogenize”, so homogenous sounds right, but it’s totally,...
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Ten Reasons Why I’m Skipping Burning Man in 2014
“Let’s go.” “Whaddya mean ‘Let’s go’? I spent all of last week trying to convince you to go, and you mumbled and waffled and made lame excuses and said no. Now, all of a sudden you want to go?” “I...
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San Francisco 2013-14: The Zeitgeist of the City
On the morning of Tuesday, 6 November 2012, I walked to Joslyn Park to cast my ballot for the US Presidential elections for the last time in Santa Monica. I then visited my parents up the road and had...
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The Commencement Address That Harvard Will Never Let Me Give
Dear Super High-Achieving College Grad and parents now deep in educational debt, except for those who are rich enough to cough up the whole $200 grand no problem — You may want to adjust your seat...
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