I build pre-party playlists to ease people in and spark low-key connection. I open with familiar, warm tracks that invite chat, then nudge tempo with groove-forward indie R&B and downtempo electronic. I sprinkle nostalgic hooks and one or two peak sing-alongs, keep transitions smooth, and match lighting to energy so no one feels shoved. Volume […]

I’m facing relentless career metrics that reward visible output while the emotional, care, and household work I carry goes uncounted. That tension fractures intimacy, strains friendships, and compounds along lines of race, class, and disability. Ambition can look like freedom but often means exhaustion and unpaid labor. I argue we need structural fixes, formal recognition […]