I believe in ambition. I believe in work. I believe in having goals, staying curious, making plans and occasionally behaving like a responsible adult. I also believe one day a week should be allowed to accomplish absolutely nothing. My perfect Sunday has no measurable outcome. Nothing is optimized. Nobody is "crushing it." There are no [...]

I like manners. This apparently makes me sound approximately 97 years old. So be it. I do not mean elaborate etiquette involving twelve forks and anxiety about which direction the asparagus should face. I mean the little gestures that tell another person: I noticed you. There is something deeply attractive about a man who moves [...]

I love convenience. I would like to establish this immediately before anyone decides I am about to advocate churning butter. I enjoy having food appear at my door. I enjoy knowing where the car is on an app. I enjoy buying an airplane ticket without telephoning a human being and spelling my name six times. [...]

Some cities are beautiful. Some cities are interesting. And then there are cities that flirt with you. You know the difference almost immediately. You can admire a place without wanting to have an affair with it. You can appreciate the architecture, visit the museums, eat a respectable dinner, take photographs, and leave thinking, Well, that [...]

I sometimes suspect dogs understand life better than we do. Not everything. My dog has, on occasion, barked furiously at a plastic bag. So I am not proposing canine governance. But dogs seem to have solved several problems humans continue making unnecessarily complicated. For example: They are excellent at joy. Completely shameless about it. If [...]

I love beautiful things. This is not a secret. I like wonderful hotels. Excellent restaurants. Champagne served in thin glasses. Fresh flowers. Soft sheets. Beautiful clothes. A car arriving exactly when it is supposed to arrive. All of civilization, really, can be measured by whether someone has figured out how to make an experience more [...]

I am very good at several things. This is fortunate because I am absolutely terrible at many others. I recommend this arrangement. Being competent is useful. Being incompetent is interesting. There is a strange point in adulthood when people begin avoiding activities they are not already good at. Children do not behave this way. Give [...]