Is Being *Unhinged and Authentic the New Captcha for the Anti-AI Movement *A little less hinged. “Showing up online a little unhinged proves that you aren’t using AI, and it’ll set you apart.” A post on LinkedIn read, and it got me thinking. They’re not wrong! Being a little unhinged or quirky, leaning into your…
Category: Life Happens
Confessions of an Ex-Millennial Mayor: Money Fixes Everything, Intentions Lead the Way, & Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
How believing in everyone who has big dreams, big pockets, and great intentions to make your community better could be detrimental to small communities. If I had a quarter for every time that I heard, “The last mayor didn’t do x, y, z,” and “You have big shoes to fill,” I would have more than…
Confessions of a Millennial Mayor: The Pandemic, PA, and the Big Bad Wolf
The pandemic, the response, the local government academy classes canceled, and the mayor’s first lawsuit “We’ll flatten the curve,” those words still haunt me. The hair on my arms still raises when those words are arranged in that order. I had just gotten back from a New Orleans Mardi Gras Trip for my birthday when…
Once Upon a Black Woman: Unemployment, Maturity, Peace, and Self-Worth
I found out April 1st that, come April 30th, my full time employment would be eliminated. My car decided that it wanted to make the sound that could only be compared to the whale in Finding Nemo. And that’s okay because gas is now more than the 412 area code that Pittsburgh resides in. It’s…
Once Upon a Black Woman: There’s Something About April & Change
April always tests what I’m made of… In April 2013, I joined AmeriCorps after being laid off for the first time. In April 2014, I became an American Airlines flight attendant. In April 2023, I was laid off for a second time. This time from my third career as a healthcare IT Business Analyst. I…
Confessions of an Ex-Millennial Mayor: The Weak in a Weak Mayor System
Why I Didn’t Run for Mayor Again and Instead Ran for Braddock Council “Can we do… shouldn’t we build… can y’all vote on?” In most weak mayor systems, mayors can break ties, cut ribbons, declare emergencies, and oversee police departments. Most mayors in weak mayor systems spend their time convincing council members to vote for…
Once Upon a Black Woman: Voting, Not Voting, Consequences, and Reflection on the Election
We currently have war, high Gas Prices, high Unemployment, and inflation because people didn’t want to vote for a black woman. My grandfather got me into the habit of reading the news every morning. My mother got me into the habit of reading books because, according to her, everything that anyone would ever want to…
Confessions of an Ex-Millennial Mayor: Overseeing a Police Department
In a weak-mayor system, some municipal mayors get to oversee a police department. The first thing that I remember after being sworn in was being whisked away and handed two internal police investigations. I was curious, energized, ready to learn, and ready to lead. The mayor paid less than $100 a month, so my day…
Confessions of an Ex-Millennial Mayor
I imagine 18-year-old me, 28-year-old me, and the me today sitting at a bar. They’d all get along kee-keeing with one another. They’d converse about talking the crying customer out of the plane bathroom before take off, or telling the one man, “I’m as hot and chocolate as he was going to get,” because we…
On: Millennial Adaptability, Authenticity, and Publishing My 4th Book, Black Girl, Blue Skies
Just chasing authenticity and imperfection in a world full of perfectly curated artificial intelligence. You’ll never have it all figured out, and as soon as you figure that out, life doesn’t get easier, but it absolutely becomes less chaotic by far. Controlling everything like a game of The Sims 4 is impossible. If I weren’t…
OMG It's Just Daé 