Pursuit
There’s a lake not far from where I live. I go there when I can. Watch the sun come up. Something about water, as the world shakes off the night before. Some...
I am not my feelings
One of those things I need reminded of semi-regularly, from Ram Dass by way of Pete Holmes, that the me that is me, the self, is not the feeling I’m having....
JD Vance Is All Of Us
When you’re the guy trying to make Diet Mt. Dew the official drink of “Heritage, Not Hate”, you give off the kind of energy that makes people go, “Yeah, he...
The Reps
Hampton Morris just medaled in weightlifting, ending a 40 year drought in the event for the United States. In Olympic weightlifting, it comes down to a few...
Better now
Better late than never. I’ve told myself that a lot. As the years ticked by. As others did the expected. Took the steps. Collected the degrees, the...
Stealing air
Met my doppelganger yesterday. Maybe a year younger. Nearly identical career paths. At the same company. Except. He’s where he is. And I’m where I’m at....
Rest area
The rest area. Icon of the road trip. Or at least a necessity, with the stretches of American asphalt winding for miles, hours from the nearest bit of...
Just keep raking
I’ve rediscovered TikTok. Don’t expect my influencing to bloom. But. Along with most of the world, I too am scrolling through videos of people feeding...
Manifesting
Manifest. It’s a funny word. Means a few different things, because language. But thinking about it in terms of the universe. Which, I believe is connected to...
Give the suck a hug
Embrace the suck. It’s a military phrase, origin unknown. Slightly more polite, unlike the NSFW “FUBAR” and “SNAFU”. My personal favorite in that genre has...
Same pack, different mountain
I like kettlebells. Have since the lockdown. Let me rephrase that. I hate kettlebells. I like what they can do for me. And no this isn’t a link to my YouTube...
Momentum
I keep wanting to not do this. Because I have this vision of myself. That version of me? Quits things. Mainly because he gets scared. Worried that it’s not...
Wedding bells & burros
Went to a wedding this weekend. The usual things were in play: BubblesBeerBurros OK, that last part was something new. Neville the Burro was part of the...
Learning to like me
Love your neighbor as yourself. Since most of us hate ourselves, that’s working out fine, Jesus. Not sure the Son of God was advocating hate. Probably not,...
Stand and deliver
I’ve been shopping for a standing desk. We’ve been told that sitting is the new smoking. The solution? Stand while you work. You know who’s not shopping for...
The lawn at the end of the world
America has a lawn problem. Nothing against lawns. But when fully 1/3 of all residential water use goes to landscape irrigation? That’s a problem. 9 billion...
Preach on
When we’re indoctrinated, it’s hard not to preach. About our god. About our politics. About our WOD (I see you, Crossfitters). Because the Kool-Aid? It’s...
Faking it
Fake it ‘til you make it. What then? Can we stop faking it? Because we had to fake it to get there. No reason to stop now. Then just be yourself. Unless that...
Pickled
Played pickleball for the first time today. Not sure why that feels like the whitest thing ever. Probably because the court’s in the middle of a gated...
Is it love?
I eat McDonald’s about once a month. The nearest one is 20 minutes away. So going there is a trip. Not quite an adventure. But a break from the ordinary. A...
Trivial pursuits
I’m a trivia fan. Friend of mine calls them “crap facts”. They’re also a fan. Not everyone is. That’s meant a lot of awkward moments at parties when, in the...
Appease me, please me
They said they’re a people pleaser. Except they’re not pleasing anyone. What they want to avoid is conflict. Appeasement. To hear the emperor say, “This...
Find your flock
Took a walk this morning. Saw an Egyptian goose on a rooftop. Not a typical roosting spot. Then it started honking as a pair of Canadian geese flew by, and...
Finding the right side
The wrong side of the bed. I don’t really have any other option. It’s just the one side, and that’s it. But the routine was off this morning. Set myself up...
Got choices?
When it all feels like a dumpster fire, it’s hard to see over the sides. We end up waiting for The Moment. That crack in the wall. The sun shining through. A...
Of course AI is smarter
We’re worried, rightly, that AI will replace us. That we’ve created a species smarter than us. Except. We’re the ones that came up with Ted Cruz. JoJo Siwa....
Help me?
You think I don’t want help. Not true. It’s the help that’s on offer. The one that assumes. Doesn’t ask. Won’t adapt. Just gets to work. We’re not all nails....
Can you see me?
Do you see me? Am I being seen? Does it matter? And what does it mean? YouTube’s algorithm decided this morning that women getting out of cars in Monaco...
Equalized
Equality. Hear it a lot, probably use it a lot. Think we know what it means. This country’s founded on the ideal. “All men are created equal.” Sounds nice....
Let it go
You’d think it would be easier. Just relax your grip. Open your hand. Simple. Sometimes it’s all you can do. Holding on is hurting you. But it’s all you’ve...
Do It Over
Sometimes it’s just best to start over. Clean the slate. Open to a new page. Find all new people to run for president. Seems easy enough. Just start fresh....
Slow Starts
There are a thousand miles ahead. So take that first step. And the next one. And the one after that. Just by taking a step, you’re ahead of the game. It’s...
Roadhouse 2024: Big Dumb Fun
Watched the 2024 reboot of Roadhouse last night. It’s a movie that, like the original, worked very hard to give the main character depth. Make them into a...
Listen to the tribe, Joe
The Debate has assumed capital status in my head, somewhere between 9/11 and the day Jerry Garcia died. Biden lost. Democracy won. Or at least what comes...
Dictator or Dotard
Freedom of choice. Freedom from choice. Language is tricky. It’s a syllable. Just the one. Couple of extra letters. But it means we’ve got two options: A...
Patriotism: An Epitaph
I saw it from across the parking lot: an American flag better suited to the skies over a car dealership than where it was, bolted to the back end of...
Nailed It
It always comes down to a nail. For want of a nail the shoe was lost.For want of a shoe the horse was lost.For want of a horse the rider was lost.For want of...
Legal Loopholes
The next president could order Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival with impunity. That’s the takeaway from yesterday’s Supreme Court 6-3 decision...
Playtime
Went to Cidercade yesterday. It’s an arcade that serves cider. The kind you have to be 21 to order. And no, it’s not a remixed Dave & Buster’s. Couple...
Someone to save me
Nearly two and a half years ago, I decided to step off the hamster wheel. Write a book. Reasonable, if risky, proposition, I thought. That is, if I had built...
Marines invade Dune screening on Max
Got around to watching Dune 2. Been on the list for a while. Two things stopping me. PaulChani Let’s be clear: Denis Villeneuve's vision of Herbert’s books...
People First
Person first? Or. Diagnosis first. I’m either: A person with autism, an example of people first language (PFL), orAn autistic person, an example of identity...
My kind of monster
I’d moved out, told her I was filing. Left a letter on her desk in the home office. I know, I know, I am a gem. Then the job I had fell through. Had to move...
Running To Stand Still
I was a bigger U2 fan once. Probably still am. You outgrow those things, but they never really leave you. I was raised on classical music and an eclectic...
Sucker punched
I’m “in between opportunities”. Kind of like Van Damme’s in between these trucks except they’re pulling away and sure funds are flexible but at some point...
Performative effectiveness
This weekend, Lando Norris learned a tough lesson in performance vs. effectiveness, which unless he’s a big fan of the civil-military cooperation, and I...
Time Bandits
There’s a store here at the country club. Cannot tell you how much that sentence amuses me circa 1995 thinking I was going to end up in a VW bus tooling...
But I need it
Better to have, and not need, than to need and not have. Attributed to Franz Kafka. The problem is that we attribute need to too many things. Telling...
Something to say
“I don’t have anything to say”. That’s not true. We have things to say. Just that we think they’re not worth listening to. Some of that’s ego. Sheltering...
Sampled
Drug tested today as part of a job application process. Collection centers are grim places, filled with the kind of cheer better suited to a DMV. Big...