Finally, some good news from the oncologist. Well, sort of. The terms good news, and oncologist don’t exactly go hand in hand. The next step in my wife’s treatment will be stem cell therapy, which is what they call a bone marrow transplant these days to make it sound less…

How does writing fit into a person’s life? Is it a hobby, a passion, a compulsion — there’s usually little difference between the two — a way of living, a habit, or perhaps a mindset? Often it’s all of those and still not enough to fit into anything well. Least…

Summer is here, and this time to stay. As evident by the air shimmering over the black asphalt, the parched grass of city parks, and the crowds of sweaty people fleeing Berlin towards one of the nearby lakes or hiking trails. Life is good, even if slightly tense.

Never would I have guessed that something as small as a footnote could punch me in the face. And yet it did. Two quick jabs followed by a right hook. Here, this comes from Martin Amis’s Inside Story: “An illiterate, underbred book… the book of a self-taught working man, &…

Ceciliengärten. Easy to miss if you don’t know how to get in. A garden walled-off by a fortress of old townhouses; tiled roofs glowing gold in the late afternoon sun; a stretch of lawn between two rows of chestnut trees; and a sizeable water fountain at the center. Happy families…

I’ve been trying to post something here for the last two weeks. But whenever I sat down to write, I got sidetracked by the sudden urge to give you an Update — not a mere lowercase update, oh no, but a proper one with a capital U — offering some…

One of the major challenges of dealing with cancer is facing the unceasing reconfiguration of reality it causes. The best example is the initial, “It’s probably nothing,” which becomes, “we need to run more tests,” turns into, “this may be cancer,” and then “It’s stage IV, and we should discuss…

Long-term wellbeing isn’t that hard to figure out. Exercise to stay in shape. Eat healthy food to feel better. Meditate to calm your thoughts, and journal to bring order to your mind. Avoid alcohol and tobacco to live longer. Stay hydrated. Save money by learning how to cook instead of…

What if I told you that the human pursuit of happiness is absolutely futile? That how happy or unhappy you are right now is dictated not by some objective measure, but rather the result of brain chemistry dictated by your genes? …