Originally published in 2022. There is far too much joy expressed in predicting our eventual demise, and we’re sick of it I see it a lot, especially on social media platforms that are likely to include non-Americans, such as Mastodon or Medium. It is the full-scale breakdown and analysis of our culture,…
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The Lost Art of Listening
Maintaining quiet confidence in the face of uncertainty My wife Jane is the type of person who likes to ask a lot of questions during a movie. She has never quite accepted the idea that the filmmakers are only interested in revealing the amount of information they want to reveal, at…
We Can Be Heroes
How tragedy plus time equals comedy “I wish you could swim, like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim. Though nothing, nothing will keep us together. We can beat them, forever and ever. We can be heroes, just for one day.” — David Bowie Tragedy plus time equals comedy. You could probably amend it to…
Is Your Imagination Robbing You Of Real Experiences?
A vivid imagination can let you explore life in ways otherwise impossible, but is it keeping you from experiencing the real thing? The Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman said that he never allowed himself to dream of winning the Nobel, because as a child, growing up during World War II,…
When Huey Newton Ruled The Roost
When the protection racket fails to produce a beneficial outcome Huey Newton is a bad boy, a hard case, a tough guy. It was kind of the point, and how he got his name. The problem is, he’s so disruptive that we had to kick him out of the house for…
The Man Beneath The Beard
The tricky nuances of visual identity and personal expression I lost the beard yesterday. The whole thing. Kaput. Gone. Adios. Sayonara. I went upstairs with a long, grey beard, and when I came down, it was gone. Just some stubble in the shape of a beard, like the shadow of an…
Stories I Tell Myself
A few years ago, I came across a story that has stuck in my mind ever since. It was about a small-town newspaper in Alaska.
The Moral Failure Of Using AI In Your Art
The moral ascendancy of the Luddites and why you should resist AI in your work and life with ecclesiastical fervor In the early days of the 19th century, highly-skilled textile workers in England revolted against the industrialization they rightly believed would replace them with the introduction of machinery that required only…
The Tao Of My Rage
Attempting to navigate the world with all its insolent depredations.
Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittensBrown paper packages tied up with stringsThese are a few of my favorite things The Sound Of Music In which I explore a few of my favorite things I bought a catcher’s mitt today for reasons that…