Things opening up again post-pandemic means the return of my side-hustle of choice: hawking brands inside of grocery stores and handing out free samples on street corners. Also known as a "brand ambassador."

Every brand ambassador shift I work involves some truly bizarre human interaction, so I wrote a guide to interacting with your (paid to be) friendly neighborhood corporate shill.

Like so many others, I fell in love with Barry, the extremely charming and photogenic owl that took up residence in Central Park.

After Barry's sudden, unexpected death at the hands of a Central Park Conservancy maintenance driver, I wrote a bit about my experiences with birding and grief. You can read the essay here.