So what is Saturnalia? Maybe the best way to get to that answer is by starting with pirates.

I organized a Youth Summit on Israel/Palestine with the Kids for Peace Foundation back in 2008. Something that really stuck with me from that experience was…

So while relieving the burden of the sole responsibility for my own sleep, diet, and exercise as part of wellbeing is freeing, it does frame new questions for me…

One of the benefits of working on two seemingly unrelated projects at the same time is the discovery of unintended questions that get to the core of each topic. This past week I started writing my children's booklet on the "Golden Age of Pirates" pirates based on historian Marcus Rediker's ​Villains of All Nations​ and anthropologist David Graeber's ​Pirate Enlightenment​. I've also been preparing for this Sunday's discussion "Sleep, Circadian Alignment, and Society" with polysomnographer, advanced clinical sleep educator, and researcher Ruhi Snyder.

As August progresses and we look towards the fall, those of us who are parents begin to think about back-to-school preparations and paying for back-to-school supplies. In that spirit, we should also celebrate today, August 11th, as the 50th anniversary of one of the most important back-to-school events in American history: Cindy Campbell's event at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx in 1973. She held the party to raise money to pay for back-to-school clothes. Her brother, Clive Campbell - better known as DJ Kool Herc, DJed the event that is widely considered to be the birth of hip-hop.

Wait, one more email on the Stonewall Uprising booklet!? It’s July… we don’t have to talk about that anymore, right? Well first, people who are LGBTQ+ are generally LBGTQ+ all year long. Second, more specifically, today is July 4th - United States’ Independence Day - and today also plays a role in the Pride story in the United States.

Doing research for this booklet was a wonderful learning experience for me. There are so many powerful and impactful aspects of American history that we just don't talk about enough because they are wrongly marginalized as a niche aspect of LGBTQ+ human history. Here are some of the resources that I used to unlearn that niche perspective.

An age-appropriate introduction to The Stonewall Uprising, why its called an "uprising", and how it sparked a movement for freedom. The booklet also ties in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Civil Rights movement to show the important place of the LGBTQ+ movement in US History.

A running theme throughout the booklet is the importance for both LQBTQ+ people and allies to co-create spaces where you can “act as if you are already free” despite an adversity or discrimination you may face.

The booklet also features the work of the Maryland non-profit Unmatched Athlete and how they are creating freeing spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, families, and allies today.

I am excited to announce I will be releasing a free non-fiction children's booklet every month for the next year or so. They will range on a wide variety of topics from the Stonewall Uprising, to pirates, to The Declaration of Independence. However, to understand the full intent of the series, we must first go on a little walk through mushrooms, expectations for what’s realistic, Nature of Technology, and Milton Friedman. Come walk with me.