Frankie was not the first dog I worked with, but he was the first puppy. He was born about two years ago and he stayed a puppy except he got bigger, writes Nestor Walters.

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But right now, we’re alive. Through pandemics, murder hornets, racial awakenings and forest fire smoke that literally blocked out the sun, writes Nestor Walters.

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We need to see that there are “grown-ups” who are still reinventing themselves, still refusing to settle, still showing that it’s never too late to become what you could be, writes Nestor Walters.

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Aren’t what we call emotions something of idealized literary objects? How accurate is it to say “love” when it carries with it fractions of dependence, envy, desire for possession or hate when hate often implies fear and so respect and so admiration?, writes Nestor Walters.

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“Everything will converge,” he said. “You’ll see.” Maybe the point of learning is not so much to become better at this skill or that, but to become better at being ourselves.

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If you thought last year was a shitty way to start the decade, I have some good news.

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Thank you for voting, thank you for staying home, thank you for working. Thank you for raising your families or studying. And thank you, most of all, for giving me something to believe in.

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I’ve always liked the idea of being on the front lines. Part of it was wanting to have the most direct impact on people, sure. But another part was selfish: I wanted to be important, to know that everything I did mattered. I wanted to be the one buddy-carrying my wounded teammates, returning fire in gunfights, yelling “get to the chopper” as we run away from alien hunters. So I joined the Navy.

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Both cases are examples of anecdotal evidence — equally valid or equally invalid. So on one hand we’re being told to trust the proverbial experts and disregard personal accounts of harmless viruses. At the same time, personal stories are being used to emotionally manipulate us into following the masses and asking no questions.

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“Take my love, take my land,” says the opening song in “Firefly,” a one-season sci-fi show about an army-veteran-turned-space-pirate and his team of scoundrels. “I don’t care,” it goes on, “I’m still free, you can’t take the sky from me.” But, when I landed in San Francisco airport last week, it seemed like someone had.…

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Last year I wrote: “July 4th is Independence Day—the day a bunch of ragtag vagabonds stood up and said ‘We’re not gonna take it’ to a bunch of assholes who were taking advantage of them. It was the sputtering, blue-in-the-face, choking-on-its-own-phlegm birth of a baby country that wouldn’t take its first real steps for another century.” But what about now?

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There’s nothing quite like a poem to give you a glimpse into someone else’s personal heaven or hell. To honor Military Appreciation Month, I thought I’d share a few slices of ours.

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Dear Zoom-bombers, I’m writing to tell you that there is a world we are creating, and it’s beautiful. In this world everyone is welcome and valued and belongs. You can be welcome too, but there is one condition and it is non-negotiable: you will accept everyone else as having that same value. Period. If you need a friend, I’ll be your friend. But if you make yourself the enemy of my community, then I am your enemy too.

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One juicy strawberry in a bowl of unripe fruit shows you that you have all you need.

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A Mother's Day Dedication poem

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Nestor Walters offers college application tips for veterans, from a veteran.

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These facts are true and cannot be disputed.

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We need the hilltops to strive for, but if we focus on them, we miss the whole point of climbing in the first place.

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It was early 2018, when the North Korea nuclear scare was still something we talked about. I stared at the screen. What did I make of it? If there are nukes coming, we’re dead. But he was waiting for an answer, and if there’s one thing I learned from my 10 years in the Navy, it’s that even when you’re at the brink of a nervous breakdown, doing anything is infinitely better than doing nothing at all.

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Everyone wants things, right? Well, short of violence, the only way to get them is by asking nicely — aka negotiating. Now, if you search “negotiation tips,” you’ll come up with wisdom nuggets like, “stay calm,” “listen closely,” “set goals” and “be creative.” As true as those truisms may be, they’re also universally applicable to…

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For my 25th Grind article, I opened up to an “ask me anything.” Thanks to everyone who submitted a question. With friends asking about music, climate change, self-help and sex toys, I know I must be doing something right. Favorite Spotify playlists? I made one called “Mongo Smash Dubstep Workout,” with songs by Excision, Skrillex,…

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SATIRE: Out of over 50 questions, men at Stanford disproportionately ranked “I would be disappointed if my partner gained weight” and “I prefer politically incorrect humor,” among others, as the most important to them — and we're not joking.

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Hi, everyone, it’s me, your friendly neighborhood Navy veteran. If you’re reading this, you made it to 2020. Congratulations. Give yourself a big hug from me, and give me one if you see me walking around in my shoulder sling. Anyway, I took a poetry class last quarter and was blown away. Since that pretty…

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I’ve felt middle-aged ever since I was 15. Look, I grew up as the only American kid in a Greek public school. I was lonely, awkward and sometimes bullied. So I started Taekwondo. Because nobody messes with you when you know Taekwondo, right? Anyway. My coach said he’d buy a heavy bag for anyone who…

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