Columnists
Friday, June 5, 2026 · Alamosa County
The Affirmation Trap: Why "I Am Enough" Might Be Gaslighting You
Turns out, telling yourself you're enough when you're falling apart doesn't fix anything—and that's actually okay.
Why We Keep Misreading Emily Dickinson—And Why It Matters
Her dashes aren't random pauses. They're a revolution. Here's what your high school teacher never told you about how to actually read her work.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Paradox of Forgetting: Why Hemingway Was Right to Write Badly First
Ernest Hemingway's famous advice to "write hard and clear about what hurts" only works if you're willing to produce garbage first—and most writers skip this essential step.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Fed Just Admitted It's Been Wrong All Year—And Nobody's Acting Like It
Jerome Powell conceded yesterday that inflation stays stickier than his team predicted. Here's what that confession means for your mortgage, your job, and the rate cuts you thought were coming.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Museum Audio Guide Is Dead, and Good Riddance to Boring
Those headsets you rent at the entrance? They're turning art appreciation into a theme park. We need to talk about why the best museums are finally ditching them.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Mercury's Trickster Tuesday: Watch Your Words (And Your WiFi)
The planet of communication is doing its best impression of a malfunctioning GPS, and one sign is about to learn why "reply all" exists as a cautionary tale.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Dog Park Revolution Nobody Asked For (But Everyone Needed)
A retired engineer spent two years fighting city bureaucracy to build a dog park with actual drainage. Here's what that obsession taught us about getting things done.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Ichetucknee Gamble: Why Florida's Most Beautiful Spring Run Gets Crowded—and How to Actually Enjoy It
Crystal-clear water, lazy current, and 100 other paddlers in tubes. Here's what most people miss about Florida's most Instagram-famous spring run—and why you should go anyway.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Cast Iron Is Not Precious. Stop Treating It Like a Wedding Gift.
Your grandmother's cast iron skillet doesn't need babying—it needs cooking. Here's how to use it the way it was meant to be used, and why that crusty seasoning is actually a feature, not a bug.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Single-Leg Deadlift Will Fix Your Broken Walking Pattern
Most people walk like their hips are fused together. Here's the one exercise that actually addresses why, and how to do it without face-planting.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Skip the State Capital, Drive Straight to the County Seat Nobody's Heard Of
Most people zoom past on the interstate toward somewhere "important." That's exactly why the small courthouse towns in the middle of nowhere are actually worth your time.
Friday, June 5, 2026
How to Cut Perfect Dovetails With a Handsaw You Can Afford
Dovetail joints look impossible until you realize they're just careful sawing and a little geometry. Here's how to cut them without spending a fortune on fancy tools.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Fall Stripers Are Stupid Right Now — Here's Why That's About to End
October's got the striped bass biting like they just discovered food for the first time, but the clock is ticking. Learn what's working before the bite goes cold.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Hoh Rainforest Loop Isn't Actually That Mystical—But the Elk Droppings Tell an Amazing Story
Olympic National Park's most famous walk feels crowded and tame until you realize what you're actually looking at—and why the moss smells like a basement after a pipe bursts.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Live Music Venue Death Spiral Is Real and We're All Pretending It Isn't
Ticket prices have become unhinged, parking costs more than your drink, and somehow the opener is still going on at 11 p.m. — but sure, let's keep acting like concert culture is thriving.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Brutalist Is Three Hours of Watching Someone Else's Expensive Dream, and I'm Furious About How Much I Loved It
Brady Corbet's maximalist mansion opera shouldn't work. It's bloated, pretentious, and forces you to sit through an intermission like it's 1987. I'm still thinking about it three days later, which means it won.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Museum Gift Shop Is Where Culture Goes to Die (And We're All Complicit)
I bought a $34 tote bag with a Rothko painting on it last week and I'm still not over it.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Sad Girl Summer We Didn't Order—And Why It's Actually the Most Honest Trend of 2024
Everyone's pretending to have fun on vacation while secretly doom-scrolling at 2 a.m. Finally, we're admitting it. Here's why that matters.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Gym Selfie Problem: When Showing Progress Becomes Hiding Pain
A reader is posting workout photos to stay motivated—but his wife thinks he's seeking validation from strangers. He might be doing both, and that's worth examining.
Friday, June 5, 2026
My Partner Won't Stop Texting His Ex, and He Says I'm Controlling
He claims it's "just friendship," but she's texting him at midnight asking how he's doing. Here's what Darla thinks about that.
Friday, June 5, 2026
I Quit My Job for a "Passion Project" and Now I'm Terrified (And Broke)
Three months into going solo, a reader is facing the hard truth: inspiration doesn't pay rent, and nobody told them about taxes.
Friday, June 5, 2026
My Kid Chose Community College Over a "Real" University. Why Do I Feel Like She Failed?
A parent wrestles with shame over their daughter's sensible choice—and learns that prestige anxiety says more about them than about her future.
Friday, June 5, 2026
I'm 34 and My Mom Still Pays My Phone Bill—When Do I Grow Up?
A reader confesses to a dependency that's costing him thousands and his self-respect. We talk about why shame is keeping him broke, and what actually needs to change.
Friday, June 5, 2026
I Bought Real Estate to "Build Wealth" but I'm Actually Just Broke With a Mortgage
A reader admits she overstretched on a rental property to seem smart, and now she's eating ramen while waiting for appreciation. Here's what she should do instead.
Friday, June 5, 2026
My Kid's Teacher Says He's "Spirited." I Think She Means He's a Monster.
When your eight-year-old gets sent home for the third time this month, it's time to stop blaming the school and start looking in the mirror.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Fed Just Admitted It Screwed Up the Math, and Nobody Noticed
Inflation data revisions reveal the central bank has been fighting a phantom — one that never existed at the scale they claimed. Here's why that matters for your wallet.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Dangerous Beauty of Quitting at the Right Moment
We're obsessed with persistence, but history's most interesting people knew something we've forgotten: sometimes the bravest thing you can do is stop.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Silent Treatment Backfired—Now I Don't Know How to Stop
She gave him the cold shoulder to punish him. It worked. Too well. Now three weeks in, she can't figure out how to talk to him again without looking like the bad guy.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Why the Volta Is the Most Underrated Weapon in Poetry
Every great poem has a secret hinge—a moment where everything pivots. Learn to spot it, and you'll understand why some poems haunt you for years.
Friday, June 5, 2026
The Breath Pause: Why Three Seconds Changes Everything
You already know to breathe deeply. Here's what actually happens when you do it right—and why most people are doing it wrong.
Friday, June 5, 2026