Jeff Wilser

Back Writer

Jeff Wilser is the author of “The Book of Joe: The Life, Wit, and (Sometimes Accidental) Wisdom of Joe Biden” from Three Rivers Press. He has written five previous books, including “Alexander Hamilton’s Guide to Life.” His writing has appeared in print or online in New York magazine, GQ, Condé Nast Traveler, TIME, Glamour, Cosmo, Esquire, mental_floss, Men’s Fitness, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Comstock’s, The Miami Herald, Detroit Free Press and The Huffington Post. For more, visit www.jeffwilser.com.

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Alysia Angel, youth programs coordinator, Sacramento LGBT Community Center

Turned Out

Who can meet the needs of our homeless LGBT youth?

Forty percent of homeless youth are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered, compared to just 10 percent for the larger population. Across the United States, there are somewhere around 320,000 to 400,000 homeless LGBT youth. There are roughly 4,000 shelter beds total. Enough to sleep just one percent.

Apr 7, 2015 Jeff Wilser
(Shutterstock)

Mental Wealth

Financial therapists know: It’s more than just the Benjamins, baby

There’s an old joke from the TV series “Friends”: Ross complains about how he’s torn between two women, so Chandler replies, “This must be so hard. Oh no, two women love me. They’re both gorgeous and sexy. My wallet’s too small for my fifties and my diamond shoes are too tight!” That’s the typical reaction when people hear about wealth psychology…

Mar 24, 2015 Jeff Wilser
Bonney Plumbing CEO Jimmy Crabbé

Smooth Operator

How former UPS logistics exec Jimmy Crabbé doubled a Sacramento plumbing business in less than 24 months

Think of it as The Deodorant Problem. If you’re marketing a brand, it’s easy to sling the sex appeal of wine, cars or a hot new phone. But what if the product is a tad mundane and even a little stinky?  How do you convey the emotional appeal of, say, unclogging a toilet? If you’re Jimmy Crabbé, you crack this problem with an inspired move that no one saw coming.

Feb 3, 2015 Jeff Wilser

Extreme Makeover: Work Edition

Does your office need an etiquette expert?

You know That Guy. He wears too much Axe body spray, he makes loud personal calls while you’re trying to work, he chews food with his mouth open. He’s a close-talker with his shirt open one button too far. He’s also really good at his job. If you’re a manager, what do you do with That Guy?

Jan 6, 2015 Jeff Wilser
A new comprehensive program at UC Davis Medical Center will soon provide surgical services for unborn children.

Opportunity of a Lifetime

Fetal surgeons at UC Davis are repairing birth defects in babies — before their patients are even born

Too many pregnant mothers know the feeling of horror: The ultrasound reveals something wrong. Perhaps it’s nothing. But maybe it’s life-threatening, a disease or a disability. Maybe it’s the unthinkable. For hundreds of thousands of years, the unthinkable — babies doomed to die or develop impairments before drawing their first breath — meant only tragedy and heartache. Now there is hope.

Dec 2, 2014 Jeff Wilser
(shutterstock)

Dream On

10 tips for the sleep-deprived, one of which might ruin your life

Let me take a wild guess: You feel like you don’t get enough sleep. Too much to do, you’re stressed out and you think getting eight hours of sleep is about as realistic as keeping current on Oprah’s Book Club. Or maybe you’re annoyed that your body needs too much sleep? Think of all the workouts you could get in, books you could read and emails you could return with a few extra hours in each day. Wouldn’t we all love to train our bodies to require less sleep?

Nov 4, 2014 Jeff Wilser

On the Cover: The World’s Fastest Man

Rome wasn't built in a day, because C.C. Myers didn't have that contract

Construction guru C.C. Myers has, for more than two decades, been California’s go-to guy when roads are ravaged by acts of God (like the ’94 Northridge earthquake) or the toll of time (Folsom’s Lake Natoma Crossing, Interstate 5 in Sacramento, Route 99 in Turlock, the Walnut Creek Interchange, and the list goes on). The New York Times once called him the “Miracle Worker Highway Man.”

Oct 21, 2014 Jeff Wilser
Eric Richards, 35, with two-year-old son, Cole

Daddy Issues

Why aren't more men taking paternity leave?

On opening day of the 2014 baseball season, New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy was noticeably absent. He wasn’t benched. He didn’t have the flu. He simply took advantage of Major League Baseball’s paternity leave policy, which grants 72 hours off, to attend the birth of his son.

And all hell broke loose.

Jun 30, 2014 Jeff Wilser
www.istockphoto.com

World Travel

Can Sacramento cash in on an influx of Chinese tourism dollars?

Two hundred million Chinese tourists will pack their bags and depart their homeland in 2020, bound for destinations across the globe. It’s not a mass exodus; they’re not  fleeing their government. They’re tourists, and, according to CNN, they might be the greatest phenomenon to hit the  global travel industry since the invention of commercial flight.

May 31, 2014 Jeff Wilser
www.istockphoto.com

Brain Drain

How can Sacramento keep its millennials in the mix?

About a decade ago, as a financial analyst for Intel, I lived in the suburbs of Santa Clara and frequently traveled to Folsom. It was a good job, especially for a kid straight out of college — decent pay, strong company and the lure of glittering stock options.

So I left.

Mar 1, 2014 Jeff Wilser

Hurts So Good

Yoga is good for you, but be careful boys

I’ve always snickered at yoga.It just seemed ridiculous. But men are flocking to yoga the way we once, in the ’80s, took to this thing called “jogging.” We’re learning that yoga bestows a slew of health benefits — physical, mental, even sexual. But new research also points to increased health risks for men, and this muddies the decision.

Feb 1, 2014 Jeff Wilser
Chris Hay, owner and farmer, Say Hay Farms

Land of the Fee

Can micro loans dig farmers out of their financial holes?

Today’s small farmer climbs an uphill battle to find land, secure capital and overcome the hefty start-up costs. Today, farmers make up less than 1 percent of the population (compared to 15 percent in 1950), they tend to be older (the average age is 57) and about 25 percent are expected to retire in the next 20 years. “This is a new problem for human society,” writes Sharon Astyk, author of “A Nation of Farmers.”

Oct 31, 2013 Jeff Wilser

When Good Girls Go Bald

The ugly reality of female pattern baldness

Kathy has a secret. Every morning she creeps out of bed before her husband wakes up, slips into the bathroom and meticulously conceals the balding spots on her head. “My husband doesn’t know what I’m up to,” she says, laughing.

Like roughly 30 million other women, Kathy suffers from female androgenetic alopecia, or pattern baldness.

Apr 30, 2013 Jeff Wilser

The New Wine Country

Opportunity abounds for California varietals

Let’s say you’re in a glitzy Beijing restaurant. Your waiter uncorks a $300 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. He pours you a glass and you sip it, savor it, let it breathe. But around the table, everyone else gulps theirs down one swallow, like a shot, yelling “Gan bei!”

Welcome to wine culture in China.

Mar 31, 2013 Jeff Wilser

Hope for the Iffy Stiffy

Miracle drug or fake science?

Low testosterone. For men, these words have the same foul odor as “impotence,” “shrinkage” or “Justin Bieber.” The topic is taboo. Throughout civilization testosterone has been prized as the lifeblood of manhood, so a deficit would imply, by definition, that we are somehow less manly.

Mar 1, 2013 Jeff Wilser