It’s the end of a singularly exhausting year, and I have left so many things unfinished. I changed jobs; I travel more. I am still slouching toward enlightenment, whatever form that might take; I am as confused by the relentless march of time as I ever was, and not only…

I drink a lot more coffee than I used to, though on balance it’s still not that much: 2.5 cups a day is, for me, just about perfect. (I persist in under- and over-shooting.) Taking the first sip is the most consistent ritual I perform, and it feels like spirituality…

Maybe don’t!

Hello reader! I’m glad you’re here. 2014 was a big year for me. While I spent a lot of my time writing — or talking about writing, or thinking about writing, or drinking about writing; those are the same thing, right? — this was the first year I really committed…

Scenes from the streets of New York — By Bijan Stephen

How black parents prepare their young sons for life in America — By Bijan Stephen Illustration by Skip Sterling

a b o r t i v e f i c t i o n — “I’m not sure which I like more, sunrises or sunsets,” she told me as we sprawled out across my bed, limbs entangled, lapped by a pool of morning light that spilled from the two big windows beside us. These face north. Every morning I wake with the sunrise, the light…