Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.

Long Reads

Stories that take a bit longer to get through.

  • Date Night

    Chicken pot pie has a lot going for it. When you’ve got creamy chicken and vegetables inside a warm flaky crust, what’s not to like? Peas, as it turns out. They’re all but universally included in pot pie. Couple that with peas’ number two spot on my allergy ranking and pot pie winds up on…


  • Boarding Pains

    Everybody who’s flown before is likely familiar with the boarding sequence. First class, elderly and parents with children, military personnel, and everybody else beginning with the back of the plane. For the most part, it makes sense. But thanks to airlines charging fees to check baggage, most if not all of the passengers are bringing…


  • Holiday Hiatus

    Over Christmas I underwent a kind of internet fast. It wasn’t exactly self-imposed or rigidly enforced, it just kind of happened because I was away from my computer, Rachel commandeers the laptop to be her e-reader, and my phone is from before phones really figured out how to access the internet in a useful manner.…