How to Write

How To Edit

The secret behind my editing.
Note: Sound muted to protect the identity of the innocent.

Dish

AC: (scrubbing iron skillet, remembering an earlier argument about the proper cleansing of iron skillets) Don't look! I'm using soap on the skillet. It will never have that perfect sheen.

MB: Charlie!

Papa Cat

AC: (listening to "Musicology") You know, Prince is really tiny. He's only 5'2"!

MB: I know. I once carried him to safety in my mouth.

Transportation

AC: What planet are you from, and how did you get here?

MB: Honey, I tunneled.

On Looking the Part

MB: And if you showed up on the moon--the real moon--wearing Michael Jackson-moonwalking pants, do you think they would trust that you knew what you were doing?

AC: No! They wouldn't even let me out of the spaceship.

MB: That's right. Because you would explode. Silently.

APS Observer - Unicorn Joyrides and Other Rewards of a Doctorate in Psychology

The redoubtable Sarah Brookhart, deputy director of the Association for Psychological Science, invited me to wax philosophical about my twisty little career path. Here is the result. Special thanks to Andy Carra for supplying the lede.

“It’s like you get to ride around on a unicorn and grant wishes.” That’s how my friend Andy described my new job as Vice President of Content Development at The Tech Museum, a hands-on science and technology center in San Jose, California.

I have to agree with Andy; the job is pretty magical. Over the next few years, I will spearhead the design of some 100 new exhibits on Silicon Valley, biotechnology, green energy, and technological solutions to social and environmental problems. I get to work with curators, designers, educators, and engineers to make science and technology delicious for everyone. I get to inspire kids and empower adults and loop new communities into the circle of knowledge. I get to have fun for a living.

But my new job is also a tiny bit terrifying....

To read more, click here

Subtle Nudges for Greater Good

Note: Find my original and complete dispatch from the Stanford "Small Steps, Big Leaps" conference at PopTech.

Many psychologists, writers and other students of human nature have reached the same conclusion: people are usually too distracted, tired, scared, or just plain lazy to act on their best intentions. But few of these observers suggest how we humans might overcome our less noble tendencies.

Scientists at a recent Stanford Center for Social Innovation conference, however, presented a bevy of tactics for transforming even the most bumbling schlemiel into a model citizen. Called “Small Steps, Big Leaps: The Science of Getting People to do the Right Thing,” the event showcased how to use gentle nudges, subtle tweaks, and quiet prompts to summon better behavior.

One of the most overlooked strategies for getting people to be generous, for instance, is actually to ask them, related Frank Flynn of Stanford Graduate School of Business....for more about the conference, click here: PopTech: blog