Category: writing

Bedtime Stories for the Emotionally Exhausted

Fairy tales with practical results

Annika found the old teapot on the beach. As she rubbed the sand off, a Djinn popped out. “I will grant you three wishes,” he said, with great solemnity, despite all the sand in his face. 

Annika thought for a minute. “I wish for a billion dollars.”

The Djinn crossed his thick forearms and nodded his great head. “Your wish is granted,” he said, his sonorous voice reverberating in the sea air. “And your second wish?”

Annika thought for a minute, though not as hard. “Nope, I’ve got a billion dollars. I’m good.”

And she left. To live on a billion dollars. 

Full story at Inglenook Lit [June 22, 2026]

Best of 2025 Somewhere

I just discovered I made the Weekly Humorist Best of 2025. (#64 down).

I just discovered I made the Weekly Humorist Best of 2025. (#64 down).

The piece:

Corporations Count as People, and Thanks to A.I., I Am Now a Real Boy
The Weekly Humorist [March 31, 2025]

Thanks to A.I., the Fundl Corporation is now a real boy.

Many years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were people too. Thanks to A.I., the Fundl Corporation is now a real boy.

I was also in Best of 2024 and 2023.

Celebrate or Demonstrate ’76

A new exhibition at Penn’s Van Pelt Library reminds us that America’s 200th birthday in 1976 was not a time of complete unity, either.

As the 2026 news cycle churns, it’s sometimes hard to remember the United States is celebrating 250 years of unity. But a new exhibition at Penn’s Van Pelt Library reminds us that America’s 200th birthday in 1976 was not a time of complete unity, either. Celebrate or Demonstrate: Philadelphia and Bicentennial Discontent runs through May 15, 2026, at Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 1st floor, University of Pennsylvania, 3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.

Full article at Broad Street Review