Author / Mike DeSocio
-
![]()
What I’ve learned from my first year of home ownership
I walked off the wobbly porch of my new home, after struggling to pop a bottle of champagne with friends and family, to greet my upstairs tenant for the first time. She was walking up the front stoop, and I stopped her to introduce myself as her new landlord. She looked me up and down,…
-
![]()
Three years later, and one more to go
It was always something I knew I could do, but never really thought I would do – it was confusing, expensive and I wasn’t even sure it was possible. The process would require me to dive deep into the vagaries of diplomatic agreements made decades ago. I would have to get fairly good at translating…
-
![]()
Changing so much, I barely noticed
Change is constant. As people we are always changing, as is the world around us. Sometimes change comes crashing in like a bull. And other times change is almost imperceptible. Just over a year ago, change came crashing in, by my own doing. I threw myself into the world as a publicly queer person, and…
-
![]()
My worth, my story and my identity
Everyone who’s ever had to come out knows that it’s never over. Yes, some coming outs will only happen once – telling your parents or your best friends, maybe – but some coming outs happen as often as every day: to coworkers, to new people you meet, to just about anyone. I had one of…
-
![]()
Can we stop using the word “sketchy?”
I’m a writer and wholehearted believer in the First Amendment. I’m not one to suggest we dampen speech. But if I had to ban one word this week, it would be this one: “sketchy.” Let me explain why. I recently moved into a new house in a new neighborhood. I’m still in Troy, where I’ve…
-
![]()
Living and learning in Troy, one year later
Last year, right before I moved away from Boston to take a new job in Albany, I tried write something that captured the sadness, but also the hope and opportunity, of starting anew. I got stuck a few paragraphs in, because I didn’t know what it meant to move on my own free will, to…
-
![]()
Back to the Lagoon
Venice is a place that has left an indelible mark on my life. The four months I spent studying abroad there in 2016 meant so much to me personally, academically and culturally. The opportunity to return to a city like that is an absolute dream. So on my recent trip to Italy I decided to…
-
![]()
Dispatch from the City of Food
When I first heard that Eataly was opening the world’s largest “food park” in Italy, there was no question in my mind that I had to find a way to get there soon or later. So when I spotted a super cheap flight to Rome for February, I carved out a long weekend and booked…
-
![]()
Let’s Create The Lives We Do Not Deserve
The following is adapted from a speech I submitted to be considered to speak at the Boston University College of Communication commencement ceremony. This weekend, I graduate from Boston University. I am done with college. And as I look back on my four years here, I’ve come to a pretty simple realization: I have been mostly…
-
![]()
Comrades, Communications and Conclusions
Life has a way of scooping you up, throwing you into things and giving you experiences you never could have planned. As I near the end of my college career (yikes!), I’ve been reflecting on some of my most meaningful experiences. What I’ve realized is, the ones I value most are the ones that were mostly…
