BLOG | Margo McKenzie

How I Fell in Love with a Complicated Commodity

We unwittingly put so much onto our bodies. It takes a science degree to understand the list of ingredients lotions and hair care...

Hot Summer and Double Dutch

Besides board games and double Dutch, summers also meant Mitch, the good humored ice cream man. We always heard his truck music before he...

Unblocking Writer's Block

So often writers complain that they’ve lost their inspiration to write. They don’t feel creative. The white page just stares at them, and...

Brownstone Livin,' Brooklyn Trippin'

We numbered a family of five when my parents purchased a three-story brownstone in the now gentrified neighborhood of Crown Heights,...

Heartbeat In A Pew

In the community where I spent my formative years, I'd pass many schools, liquor stores and bars, but I'd also pass a church on just...

New Hustles, New Muscles

I had acquired the credentials I needed to become a high school English teacher and then an administrator. Each year I worked to...

My 6 Steps to Becoming A Writer

I had jitters when I first stepped in front of a classroom. I had jitters leading my first department meeting—and maybe my second and...

Spaces For Making

I didn’t have too much surface space in my kitchen in Bed-Stuy, so when I cooked, I kept it simple. Yes, I used cutting boards and mixing...

When A Seed Becomes Itself

I walked into the Garden Department of my local box store and there they were: Burpee seeds for arugula, carrots, and string beans and so...