The faceless strategy was partly fear wearing a strategy costume. There. That is the confession underneath the confession I made in Part 1, “The Shielded Life: Confessions of an AI-Enhanced Human,” published October 21. I said my experiences are real, AI helps me enhance and polish the way I share them, and I review the … Continue reading The Shielded Life: Part 2, Face Forward
The person signing the checks may be the person you trust most. That is exactly why you verify the checks. In my Certified Fraud Examiner studies, I keep returning to one hard truth: fraud does not always arrive as a stranger breaking through the perimeter. Sometimes it is already inside, with legitimate access, familiar routines, … Continue reading Security & Scams: The Bookkeeper and the Meal Count, When Trust Replaces Verification
Monday doesn’t start when the alarm goes off. It starts with the reset I give myself on Sunday. I want to move into Monday rested, not spend the first hours recovering from a week that never properly ended. That is the point: arrive ready, clear-eyed, and responsible for how I use my energy. The Grind … Continue reading The Grind: Monday Starts on Sunday
“What is” is where I have chosen to put my energy. “What if” can keep a person rehearsing imagined futures, explaining away inaction, or waiting for someone else to make the first move. I would rather look clearly at what is in front of me, decide what I stand for, and act accordingly. That decision … Continue reading Meditative Rituals: What Is, Not What If
A 22-year-old wrote this. That is the sentence I keep coming back to as I read In the Shadow of Eight by Collin Gosselin, one of the sextuplets from the TLC reality show. I have the book in my hands, and it does not read to me like a routine celebrity memoir. It reads like … Continue reading Weekend Reads & Vibes: Collin Gosselin and the Systems That Were Supposed to Save Him
Friday’s audit is a look-back, not a scorecard. I’m asking what worked, what I fussed about profitably, and what deserves to come with me into next week. Nobody gets a grade, not the people who sent me suspicious emails, and not me. The week had a little bit of everything: fraud examination, an honest conversation … Continue reading Flexible Glow & The Weekly Audit: No Script Leaves the House Before Payment
Peace and joy are not trophies waiting at the finish line of a long week. They are not reserved for the day every task is finished, every message answered, and the laundry basket has finally stopped looking at you like it knows what you did. They can belong to an ordinary Thursday afternoon, claimed on … Continue reading The Pursuit of Peace & Joy: Laundry Day, Neckbones, and a Keyboard That Clicks
I use AI. Freely admitted. Not for the living, for the keeping. The experiences are mine. The images are mine. The moment happens first, before anyone polishes a sentence or adjusts a visual. Then I use tools (including Penny, Sonny, and Gemini) to help shape and enhance what I’ve already experienced. Before anything is published, … Continue reading The Shielded Life: Confessions of an AI-Enhanced Human
A note before we get into it: There is no evidence here of wrongdoing or charges against the cast members of any cast of 90-Day Fiancé ™ or any of the spinoffs. Their actions may seem suss to viewers, but that doesn't prove fraud. This is commentary on a television show through a fraud-examination lens, … Continue reading Security & Scams: Protecting Your Perimeter, Scams R Us Edition
The first Monday after the Soul of the Valley retreat debrief series wrapped, I woke up to the kind of quiet that makes you notice your own thoughts before the day starts talking over them. Monday was still Monday. The week had not magically cleared its calendar because I had been away. There were things … Continue reading Start Every Day Like Arrival Day