Ema | Developer

September 20, 2019

Dave's Picks, Dave Speaks

Forbes | Former Teacher, Foreign Service Officer, Campaign Manager: What Enticed This Mid-Career Woman Back To School

Ema | Developer

September 20, 2019

Dave's Picks, Dave Speaks

Forbes | Former Teacher, Foreign Service Officer, Campaign Manager: What Enticed This Mid-Career Woman Back To School

Originally published September 3, 2019 by Forbes | Sheila Callaham Contributor | Diversity & Inclusion
I write about combatting ageism in the workplace.

First in the series: Mid-Career and Beyond–Transforming Personal and Professional Life Through Education

For kids and young adults, September means heading back to a regimen of classes, homework and exams. When it comes to college, young adults are not the only ones looking for degrees and certifications; mature students are also turning to university programs to increase employment opportunities and seek new career experiences.

Julian Phillippi’s decision to go back to school to earn a Masters in Human Resource Management is a path forged to meet her new career interests. A former teacher, foreign service officer and campaign manager, Phillippi is not afraid of change. Now in her second year at New York University (NYU), a private nonprofit research university based in New York City, Phillippi is honing her specialization and already applying her learnings to real world challenges.

Ema | Developer

September 17, 2019

Dave's Picks, Dave Speaks

NYT | Welcome to the party. The New York City block party

Ema | Developer

September 17, 2019

Dave's Picks, Dave Speaks

NYT | Welcome to the party. The New York City block party

New Yorkers, we live on top of one another, so it’s only natural that sometimes we spill out onto the concrete. It happens especially during the sweltering summer spells, when even the apartment walls seem to sweat.

There are very few backyards in the city, so to avoid walking up flights, a steamy basement or balmy bedrooms, we hug the block.

Across all five boroughs New Yorkers set out on their streets with lawn chairs, pools, bouncy castles and tables full of food, to enjoy the summer together. Throughout the day there is a cacophony of familiar music, the laughter of children playing and the sizzling sound of meat on a grill. No cars are allowed.

Ema | Developer

September 7, 2019

Dave Speaks

Gothamist | Is This Revolting Dead Rat Soup The Future Of NYC Pest Control?

Ema | Developer

September 7, 2019

Dave Speaks

Warning: for the queasy among us — proceed with caution. This gets mighty real.

Originally published By Jake Offenhartz @ Gothamist.com

Sept. 5, 2019 4:58 p.m.

In 1839, the naturalist John Jay Audobon was granted permission by Mayor Isaac Varian to begin shooting rats he spotted along the Battery. In the 1960s, following a series of nest-shaking tenement demolitions, the Daily News trained teenagers to lay rat poison. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani hired future subway boss Joe Lhota as his “Rat Czar,” while Mayor Bill de Blasio has toyed with removing trash cans to stamp out the unwanted rodents. David Lynch was even involved at one point. Still, there are rats.

On Thursday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams joined the pantheon of New Yorkers operating under the notion that the rats might be eradicated, if only we tried a new approach. In one of the more gut-churning press conferences in recent memory, Adams summoned the city’s reporters to Borough Hall to demonstrate a “cutting-edge” rat-killing device—part bait trap, part drowning tank—known as the Ekomille. We were promised dead rats, and goddamn did we get them.

Click here to read the full post at Gothamist. [CONTENT WARNING: SO MANY DEAD RATS]

Ema | Developer

September 3, 2019

Dave Speaks, Dave's Picks

Dave's Picks | NYT Essay — What Beyoncé Taught Veronica Chambers, Past Tense Editor, About Self-Motivation

Ema | Developer

September 3, 2019

Dave Speaks, Dave's Picks

Dave's Picks | NYT Essay — What Beyoncé Taught Veronica Chambers, Past Tense Editor, About Self-Motivation

As you may have heard, we’ve been avoiding the office this week. Which means our Elevator Interview — the weekly chats we’ve been conducting with Times writers and editors to get inside their heads about how they do their jobs — took place over email.

That was no problem for Veronica Chambers, who has an early morning writing ritual that, at times, has involved her sleeping on her kitchen floor to ensure that she would be so uncomfortable that she wakes up early. It appears to have worked: She is the author of more than a dozen books, including her most recent, “Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter,” and is editor of the Times archival storytelling project, Past Tense.

Ema | Developer

September 2, 2019

Dave Speaks, Dave's Picks

Dave's Picks | NYT Opinion — Should Work Be Passion, or Duty?

Ema | Developer

September 2, 2019

Dave Speaks, Dave's Picks

Dave's Picks | NYT Opinion — Should Work Be Passion, or Duty?

It’s worth noting on a national holiday extolling the value and dignity of labor that Americans are uniquely obsessed with work. Could any other nation come up with a product like Soylent, a meal substitute, not for the elderly, the poor or the malnourished, but for software engineers, Wall Street brokers, tech entrepreneurs and others who don’t want to be diverted from their work by the time consuming intricacies of a meal? Could you imagine the French conceiving such a thing?

While other wealthy nations have shortened the workweek, given their citizens more free time and schemed to make their lives more pleasant, stress-free and enjoyable, the United States offers a curious paradox: Though the standard of living has risen, and creature comforts are more readily and easily available — and though technological innovations have made it easier to work efficiently — people work more, not less.

Warning: for the queasy among us — proceed with caution. This gets mighty real.

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