Offering light and laughter wherever I can
I’ve decided that when I become Supreme Benign Dictator, I am going to send Really Mean-Looking Squads Complete With Big Sticks after the person who decided taxes should be paid in the spring. This is because there is something morally wrong with asking people to start their tax returns after they’ve just recovered from both [ ] Visit the blog at Please give generously .
I hate shopping. In general, but especially for clothes. Lots of people love it. When they’re not actively cruising the racks, they’re planning their next expedition. For me, clothes shopping sits on my “Must Do” list somewhere between 237) Jump Out of an Airplane Without a Parachute and 486) Join an Hot Yoga Class. For [ ] Visit the blog at You can’t flog a dead clothes horse .
As you re probably aware, Elon Musk had an IPO (initial public offering) of SpaceX stock that made him the world s first trillionaire. Making the rounds on social media shortly afterwards was a meme entitled CAPITALISM WINS AGAIN. The text reads: Juan Hernandez took a $28/hr welding contract job at SpaceX in 2015. Didn t even know [ ] Visit the blog at It isn t even trickle down .
Just like any other middle-class parent, I ve taken my kids to all sorts of activities over the years. Soccer, language classes, swim lessons. Piano and music theory. Art camps and Scouts. One they all stuck with was karate, and they have all earned their junior black belts. My two oldest children have since gone away [ ] Visit the blog at Unexpected Joys .
Time again for five interesting things: stuff you should know, stuff you might want to take action about, stuff you can share. Nanoclay Some very cool research into using tiny clay particles to help restore soil fertility. This will be key to halting desertification, sequestering carbon dioxide, and feeding the world. See also one [ ] Visit the blog at 5 Interesting Things #20 .
In 1986, a fellow by the name of K. Eric Drexler wrote a book called Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology. What got a lot of hype at the time was a small section describing the potential for a catastrophic scenario, where tiny self-replicating machines could get out of control and consume all [ ] Visit the blog at The grey goo scenario is happening .
There are many, many things that are dysfunctional at the moment, but — in north America at least — the job market is egregiously bad. To invoke Corey Doctorow s phrasing, it seems particularly enshittified, and it s not serving anyone well. I say this from both an employee and employer perspective. Let me explain. My kids [ ] Visit the blog at The job market is broken .
I was reading an article about jhāna last week, and one of the things it suggested in that type of meditative practice was to access a feeling of joy. The idea was to go back to an experience that brought you joy, and remember what it felt like, and then try to replay that feeling [ ] Visit the blog at No really, touch grass .
As I type this, a certain orange person and his enablers have taken a flawed, but mostly positive economy and smashed it headlong into a brick wall, while simultaneously destroying decades of stable trade relationships with allies. All the while, absolutely gutting the vital government services that millions of his citizens depend on. The people [ ] Visit the blog at Explaining the inexplicable .
Hey! How are you? It s time again for five interesting things: stuff you might find intriguing, share worthy, and/or actionable. Or even just interesting. Twiiiiigs innnn spaaaaaace: So the Japanese have an interesting idea for reducing space debris: satellites made of wood. At the moment, when we deorbit satellites (a fancy way of saying we [ ] Visit the blog at 5 Interesting Things #15 .