DEMOCRACY 2021
Modern democracy requires boundary setting between us and those running for office
We have come to accept access as an integral part of modern life. Anyone, anywhere, can get in touch, at any time. We have allowed friends, family, colleagues, long-lost acquaintances, high-school nemeses, big-box brands, and humanless bots to access us on any and every platform. Call me old-fashioned at 43, but I for one am exhausted by the constant pinging and ringing. It’s a full-time job just to keep up with all of our messages. Enough. The promise of modern connectivity was the speed at which we could transmit messages. I am not sure when and how we all agreed…
FRIDAY FREELANCING
Here’s how to get clear about your goal, then what to do with it
Freelance friends, independent contractors, and dear digital nomads! Welcome back to my weekly series, “Friday Freelancing.” Right here on Medium, I’ll come to you each Friday afternoon with advice on how to make working for yourself actually, well…work. I’ve been doing it for nearly 20 years and am happy to share tips, tricks, secrets, strategies, and best practices. Be sure to follow for guidance on getting business, growing business, and managing finance, projects, clients, and your desk. Basically, how to make money and not go absolutely nuts.
In the last four weeks, I introduced you to Freelance Heaven, where clients…
REAL BOOKS
A weekly deep dive into the books that changed my life during the pandemic, with links and takeaways
Welcome to summer. I hope it’s off to a great start for you and your family. The summer ahead is not exactly season as we know it, but it will be a far cry from last year’s mess. Whether you are traveling, headed to the beach, or trying to take the deep breath you deserve after the nightmare of the last 15 months, I have some summer reading recommendations for you. Yes, books. Real books. This is Week #4 of my weekly series on books that got me through the pandemic.
Worthy of note: these are not books that are…
New language for a new time
For many of us, the last year was a major turning point. The Great Pause, and the painful fifteen months that followed, illuminated where life is letting us down, where the stories we tell ourselves are proving insufficient, and even where our dearest relationships are failing. …
It is coming in public and in private, whether we like it or not
Note: This essay has been updated to reflect the passage of the Juneteenth bill by Congress, as well as the signing of the bill into law by President Biden on June 17, 2021.
Here it comes. Get ready for it. As Stanley Tucci’s Nigel says in The Devil Wears Prada, “Gird your loins!” Millions across America are about to argue against a new national holiday. My guess: about 30 million or so. Only good ol’ American racism can turn a nation of hardworking, God-fearing, Best-Buy-shopping people into proud advocates for fewer days off in the working year.
FRIDAY FREELANCING
You may not think you have to write it down, but you do
Freelance friends, independent contractors, and dear digital nomads! Welcome back to my weekly series, “Friday Freelancing.” Right here on Medium, I’ll come to you each Friday afternoon with advice on how to make working for yourself actually, well…work. I’ve been doing it for nearly 20 years and am happy to share tips, tricks, secrets, strategies, and best practices. Be sure to follow for guidance on getting business, growing business, and managing finance, projects, clients, and your desk. Basically, how to make money and not go absolutely nuts.
In the last three weeks, I introduced you to Freelance Heaven, where clients…
REAL BOOKS
A weekly deep dive into the books that changed my life during the pandemic, with links and takeaways
Welcome to summer. I hope it’s off to a great start for you and your family. The summer ahead is not exactly season as we know it, but it will be a far cry from last year’s mess. Whether you are traveling, headed to the beach, or trying to take the deep breath you deserve after the nightmare of the last 15 months, I have some summer reading recommendations for you. Yes, books. Real books. This is Week #3 of my weekly series on books that got me through the pandemic.
BOOK #1
CULTURE
Contemplating our alternate 2021 without so many compassionate voices
Maybe it’s the general melancholy of the last year or perhaps a minor malaise brought on by a gloomy June, but I have been thinking about death a lot. It seems as the pandemic begins to fade, my body has entered a new stage, crossing from the daily intensity of “fight or flight” into a sustained low-level lethargy, finally processing all that has happened and all that we have lost. The prolonged experience has made us both hyper-aware of our own mortality and, at the same time, numb to it. Our constant focus on the politics of it all —…
FRIDAY FREELANCING
Chances are you are not charging enough
Freelance friends, independent contractors, and dear digital nomads! Welcome back to my new weekly series, “Friday Freelancing.” Right here on Medium, I’ll come to you each Friday afternoon with advice on how to make working for yourself actually, well…work. I’ve been doing it for nearly 20 years and am happy to share tips, tricks, secrets, strategies, and best practices. Be sure to follow for guidance on getting business, growing business, and managing finance, projects, clients, and your desk. Basically, how to make money and not go absolutely nuts.
In the last two weeks, I introduced you to Freelance Heaven, where…
PRIDE 2021
The journey continues, but here’s what’s clear so far
I came out in 1997, three months after my parents divorced. It was a tumultuous time. Our family was changing, and so was I. I was 19, and those who loved me begged me not to make such a bold declaration at such a young age. But I knew what I was. In fact, it seemed I was the last one who knew what I was. I think the little Capezio dancer shoes I wore to school were the big tell — or the perm I got in seventh grade. At 13, I wanted curls like Kirk Cameron. Yes, that…
Julio Vincent Gambuto
“Giulio” (It’s Italian.) Writer/Director based in NYC. Outspoken so I can help you make sense of this modern world. www.juliovincent.com
