My supervisor was messing with me. That was the only conclusion I could draw after speaking to a board member who had been told a bold-faced lie about me. This was new territory. I’d never dealt with someone who intentionally manipulated the facts like this supervisor. I couldn’t even understand what he hoped to gain from it. Did he hope to play the...

With a video camera set up in his bedroom, a desk, and a white backdrop that doubled as a curtain for the sliding door to his backyard, Duke Fightmaster began his quest to become the next Conan O’Brien. Many of his jokes hit their mark, and over the following weeks an audience of friends and strangers in his bedroom grew for his weekly show that aired...

Some days Eileen would storm into work, red-faced with anger, ready to bark commands at anyone who crossed her. I steered clear of her, encouraged others to give her some space, and brewed a pot of coffee as a peace offering. An hour or so later she’d cool down and apologize for arriving in such a huff. We had good days and bad days. However, given...

I thought I knew what it was like to worry about money while my wife and I attended graduate school at the same time. We shopped at the discount grocery store and only ate out at the bad Chinese restaurant when we had a coupon. Launching my own business two years ago as a freelance writer proved the most worrying challenge, surpassing my graduate school...