Note to readers: A few weeks ago, I got an email inviting me to part of a Green Books Campaign sponsored by Eco-Libris, a for-profit enterprise that promotes books printed on non-virgin paper and funds the planting of trees in Africa and Central America.

Interviewing a journalist is like operating on a surgeon, I worried, as I picked up the phone.

I was calling New York Times columnist and author Gail Collins, who had been spending the day at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, TX.

My...

In our last post on Work, we featured three experts about the changing nature of Work, from the Pop Tech conference in Camden, Maine.

One of those speakers, John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, PA, arrived in Maine with news that embodies America's health-care debate.

Braddock,...

This series on work started with profiles of individuals who've identified their passions and turned them into amazing careers.

The next few posts will feature a look at Work, American-Style, from the PopTech conference in Camden, Maine.

PopTech began -- as its name implies -- as a meeting...

I've been writing this series about Work for HuffPost Living for several months now. It felt like the right time to review what I'd learned. So I invited Me, the reporter, to interview Me, the indie writer/voice-over/creative freelancer, about what we've learned about Work thus far:

Q:...

Good news! You've found a job helping the world in a crucial, even life-saving way.

Bad news: You're working so hard for so little that you're about to burn out.

"Is there a way for me to help others without killing myself?" you ask.

Absolutely, says Andrew Zolli....

If you're down on your luck and ya ain't got a buck? Glenn Llopis wants to kick your ass - in a good way.

Llopis is a California-based entrepreneur, the kind of guy who could - and did - make it to the top of the corporate...

Darrell Scott is a hit-songwriter, an A-List musician and acclaimed independent singer-songwriter who's mixing a new album to be released later this year.

The last thing he needed was a new job.

Or did he?

In a phone chat from Nashville, Darrell Scott described his...

Taking a snapshot of a movement sounds nonsensical, if not impossible. But if you're in Northern Colorado when Dan Shaner hosts one of his Sunday brunches for change, that's what you'll get -- along with some very fine local bluegrass and an equally tasty homemade meal.

Like a lot...

James P. Othmer is an ex full-time-ad guy turned full-time author.

Or maybe he's an ad guy turned author between full-time jobs?

No one can say. Least of all, James Othmer.

But it sort of doesn't matter. Because however the future plays out, Othmer has found his...

In previous posts, we've met people who have created their jobs by pursuing professional passion.

In today's post, we'll meet Jen Consalvo, a woman who left her job to pursue her dream career.

Ditching a steady paycheck takes guts in an unsure economy. But Jen is, by nature,...

According to the United Nations Population Fund, there are more than a 1.5 billion people worldwide between the ages of 10 and 25.

Look ten years into the future and that's 1.5 billion+ young people in an ever-more global job market.

Jennifer Kushell is an expert in...

There's nothing like asking someone about their work to distract you from the fact that they're sticking a dozen needles into your torso.

And so, on a recent visit to my local naturopath, I popped the question:

How did you discover your passion for "alternative" medicine?

Like many young...

Julie Child never said this, but hopefully someone French sorta did:

The more we try to keep our work world from changing these days, the more it changes. (Take a deep drag on your mental Gauloise here.)

If you've been laid off, are looking for work or worrying about the...

New York City voice-actor Jeremy Redleaf , 25, has found success in a highly on-demand business.

He's been narrating commercials since he was a kid. In November, he'll be voicing a new character on Sesame Street. His career has taught him a ton about the world of...

The last few posts in this series on work have focused on folks who have created custom-fit jobs by following their passion.

But what happens when your passion for employment meets with a "Maybe Later, Maybe Never?" from the world?

Freelancers and job-seekers can spend the workday seeking work,...

Parental Advisory: Frank, extremely fun information on sex and careers below.

Last week, as part of this series on the nature of work, we met a couple whose passion led them to start a cupcake bakery/original T-shirt emporium (which Aerosmith's Joe Perry dropped into last week!) and a...

In our last post on the nature of work, a couple passionate about graphic design and baking as well as each other created a business selling T-shirts and cupcakes in Boulder, CO.

In this post, we'll look at another way that individuals of passion are creating careers for...

It reads like a scene out of fairy tale co-authored by Julia Child:

Boy meets Girl. Boy designs T-shirts. Girl designs wedding cakes.

They start a business and live happily ever after...in the middle of several thousand cupcakes and racks of custom-designed T-shirts.

If you're saying: "Huh?" That's...

Oh, yes!

It's the end of a long workweek. You've pitched and pondered, proposed, carpooled, created, supervised and been "directed." You're frazzled, fried and in need of some restorative downtime, big-time.

What better way to unwind than by whipping up ... a seven-course Italian family dinner from scratch?

The idea...