Putting put the pieces of our lives back together — Dear Susan Brearley, It’s difficult for me to overstate my disappointment in the events that transpired during the MuddyUm winter retreat. This whole ordeal has caused me a great degree of financial and emotional distress. I was kind enough to offer my newly-listed cabin to the group at a discounted…

That Mitchell and Webb Greatness — Thunderdome is a Fanfare series where our writers good-naturedly debate some matter of pop culture and then leave it to the readers to decide. Read each post and vote at the bottom! “People like Coldplay and voted for the Nazis, you can’t trust people Jez” — Super Hans I happened…

Medieval Madness and the damsel in distress — I’ve been a super Tina Fey fan since before it was cool. I just finished her Bossypants autobiography. Give that a read if you need something for the beach this summer. The book brings an insightful perspective on what it was like to be a Saturday Night Live woman pioneer. …

Sentiment analysis from the underground — Dear Doctor Gutiérrez, Thank you so much for the pound cake. It was a wonderful surprise to me and the other inmates. …

Let’s hope more people see this little film — There are two types of film reviews — reviews that nudge you to see a film, and reviews you can read after you’ve seen a film that can help give you perspective. This will be the former. I promise no spoilers or even plot points in this review. …

Political discourse with Josh Franklinburger — Left-leaning political satire finally has a target audience, and his name is Josh Franklinburger. Josh is a software engineer who happened upon Medium while searching for recommendations on scalable design patterns. He has read a few articles from Towards Data Science and The Startup. Josh is an amazing find. He’s…

A shot at the Parkway Theater — Our ’78 Puch races north on Charles Street. We pass Tapas Teatro and the engine begins to sputter. Ralph hasn’t cleaned the carbs and the two-stroke is running rich. Black smoke erupts from the pipes. I reach into my bomber jacket, liberate my flask, and bring the peaty smell of…

Making the most of a romantic evening — DC is a great town for grabbing garb and talking politics. Power lunch establishments like Charlie Palmer’s, Occidental Grill, and BLT Steak are hard to beat, but Baltimore has plenty of charming restaurants that make for great date ideas. …

Why Elizabeth and I chose to adopt — Elizabeth had her heart set on buying a Madagascar hissing cockroach from a breeder in Pennsylvania. I couldn’t bring myself to do this. Why buy when there are so many neglected insects in desperate need of a forever home? We wanted to be responsible parents. Adopting is a commitment and…