A wise man once said, “why change the world when you can just pretend you did?” That wise man was my boss, Arthur Fishburne. We were sitting in a dive bar in the Mission District not far from the 24th St. BART Plaza. He was the CMO of the startup…

Every town in America has their legends, their hauntings, their myths, and we’re no different. For kids who grew up in Vallejo and Benicia, we had ‘The Ghost.’ He wasn’t actually a ghost, but a man we called ‘The Ghost.’ Everyone in town knew of ‘The Ghost,’ but despite universal…

It was roughly 2:30 AM and I had woken up to a racing heart accompanied by a subtle anxiety. This wasn’t the worst it’s ever been, but it never felt good. I sat up and looked around the dimly lit room. It was just as messy as it was when…

“Fear of the journey will ensure you never reach the destination,” he said aloud to no one in particular. “You’re always spendin’ time, make sure you spend it wisely.” Maybe he should take his own advice, I thought to myself. I tried not to look at him. His hair was…

I had to drive her home, but I didn’t want to. I wanted her to lie beside me and watch dumb cartoons forever, but I had work in the morning and she had a family to go home to. …

“You ever feel like you’ve wasted your life?” That’s what I said to my best friend on the phone as I walked to my car. I had just gotten out of a Best Buy and I was looking for one of those stupid iPhone dongles because Apple’s unquenchable need for…

High rise residential buildings are a symbol of urban America. If you live in one, you’re either at the bottom or the top. I’m closer to the bottom, but the building I was going to was reserved for those at the top. I was on my way there to pick…

What is it to achieve parity? My life was one of juxtaposition. A life of contrast is prone to conflict; both internal and external. As a teenager I was morbidly obese. At one point more than 350 pounds hung from my suffering skeleton. I had an epiphany and slimmed down…

I was just released from prison. They let me out of San Quentin and it was the first time since 1992 that I felt the breeze come off the shores of San Francisco Bay on the right side of the barbed wire fence. I needed to go back to Oakland…