Joseph Lamour

Money issues are an unfortunate part of life that most non-Kardashian human beings have to face at one time or another. For those who have Veuve Clicquot taste on an André budget, simply living within your means is a daunting task. As someone with…

All five members of my family are extremely clever, sly, and perceptive. This, while growing up, often led to, err, unique conflict resolution. For instance, my mother would base the menu on which one of her children was behaving the best. If I had…

On the Bad Boy tax bracket anthem, “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems,” the now-immortal hook goes, “I don't know what they want from me/It's like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.” Biggie, Mase, and Diddy were clearly speaking from…

The worst bout of food poisoning I’ve ever gotten was on a late December trip to New York City. After a stroll in Central Park on New Year’s Eve, my boyfriend and I decided it would be a romantic idea to go eat at a questionable-looking sushi spot…

Last week, food scientist and writer Joe Rosenthal spoke to former employees of the popular breakfast spot Sqirl and posted their experiences on Instagram, and their anecdotes were musty — literally. These former workers alleged the brunch spot was…

In June, news of a woman in Colorado named Michelle Hart testing positive twice for COVID-19 swept the headlines. Though Hart gave an interview with a local station in Denver, her story was picked up by other stations across America to national…

Because of coronavirus pandemic and the resulting quarantine, the airline industry has taken a major hit. In order to stay above water, most airlines in the U.S. have restructured their schedules and created new guidelines with pandemic safety in…

A couple of nights ago, I was stirred awake by something mysterious. Initially, I thought it was another thunderclap from a storm, typical of a usual East Coast summer, or maybe a stray dog barking that caused me to jolt from my slumber. But then, I…

Over the weekend, I was reminiscing with friends about our teen years over Zoom, generous pours of Cabernet in hand, when the subject of our sex ed class came up. In late ‘90s suburban Maryland, my official bout with sexual education was a single…

By now you may have seen a mega-viral video of a selection of seemingly-everyday objects like Crocs, house plants and toilet paper being sliced in half to reveal that they’re actually elaborately decorated cakes. The single video, shared by Tasty…

One summer Saturday in high school, I piled into a minivan with a bunch of friends and went to Six Flags amusement park. I'm a roller coaster enthusiast, and that day, after a full afternoon of corkscrew turns and topsy-turvy screaming stole my…

Although I am Black and gay, I’m still a cisgender man, and that comes with its own set of privileges. It wasn’t until I was a senior in high school that I noticed how strictly the boundaries of gender are policed in our world — even for a cis man…

As I munch on a sandwich for lunch from the comfort of my home office for the umpteenth time, I wonder when I’m going to feel comfortable enough to eat in a restaurant again. When it comes to the coronavirus pandemic and the United States’ slow…

This June held a rather abbreviated Pride celebration, for good reason. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it seems that every July 1, each and every single corporation with a social media presence pivots from an all-rainbows-all-the-time motif…

In the U.S., we’re still grappling with our first wave of COVID-19, dealing with hospital overcrowding, and even seeing some parts of the country which have reopened and then closed again due to new infections, signaling how unprepared the country…

Stress is a part of every human life, but as a Black man in America, it’s a sizable part of my identity. From the moment I was born, I was unknowingly thrust into a world that fetishizes, misconstrues, and fears Black men like me. And lately, as an…

As Quaker Foods North America announced last week, the Aunt Jemima mascot will finally be put to rest after almost a century of innuendo and controversy. Blushing with much delayed shame, other food execs began rolling back racist branding as well.…

Almost every morning, rubbing my eyes as I pour my coffee, I glance over at my wine rack and think, “I’ll see you at six on the dot.” The plethora of stressors that rain down on me daily have made a nightly glass (or two) of red a welcome ritual.…

When I was a young, green writer just starting out my career, I lived in New York City while stop and frisk — the intrusive NYPD search policy of yesteryear — was still in full effect. One day, on my way to the office, I descended the stairs at a…