Posts in Being Human
One Mai Tai, Hold the Colonialism Please

I was once served a piña colada by the bartender at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan, who claimed that he invented the drink. Of course I did not believe him at the time. I thought it was a line. Turns out to be true.

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Find the Change You Want to See in the World

While the usual saying is “Can’t see the forest for the trees,” I think it can often be the other way around: the size and sweep of the forest is so overwhelming that we can’t appreciate the loveliness of the trees in front of us.

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Join the Mitzvah League

While a mitzvah can be something really large and life changing, one could think of mitzvahs more as little deeds, done on a regular basis, as a matter of habit. Mitzvahs are not the meal—rather they are the chips you dip into the salsa of life.

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If a Tree Falls

“There are thousands of human beings, animals, causes, ideas tended thoughtfully, lovingly, and yes, anonymously, by folks we never get to hear about. These are the doers of good deeds, who just do what they believe is their job. These are the unnoticed good deeds which are the fibers that make up the strings that bind us all. Yet their actions often go unheard, just like the falling of that solitary tree in the forest.”

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Me, Converso

My story is not that special, really. In fact, its core is the most typical of all immigrant tales: bloodlines fractured and families displaced—voluntarily or involuntarily. Inherited stories forgotten along the way, replaced by mystery, fabrication, indifference, or even shame. What is special is that the frayed string of my family history happens to lead to this place and time—now.

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Twain on Travel, with a Capital T

You don’t have to be a tourist when you Travel. Tourism tends to put guardrails on one’s mind because of the expectations we often pack along with our Bermuda shorts. Here are just a few of the things Mark Twain had to say on the subject of Travel.

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