Morning Above The Clouds
This was our view from the cabin this morning: the whole valley between us and the other ridgeline filled with clouds, shortly to be burned away by the sun.
Read moreBen Berry
Renewal
This blog, like the chair pictured, has been broken for a while. It's in the process of being renewed. More to come.
Read moreThe Least of Us
This book by Sam Quinones is a sequel to Dreamland in the way that a history of Weimar Germany is a sequel to a history of The Great War. It was not intended, no plot threads were left intentionally dangling. But the perpetual nature of history ("Nothing ever ends,
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Teddy
"We're 4 hours from home, and you want to adopt a cat?" The second half of 2019 was a bit of a blur. In July we'd gone to Washington, D.C. for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. When we got back,
Read moreChoosing contentment
The only way to be wholly content and happy doing something is if you have considered your alternatives and decided that doing this thing, right now is the highest possible use of your time. Skipping the consideration spoils it. Harboring resentment spoils it. Feeling forced to do it spoils it.
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Weight on the bar
It's not very much weight on the bar. But, still. It's weight on the bar. When ego tells you "Just quit. This is beneath you." Don't listen.
Read moreFather's Day 2021
It's natural that learning to do something yourself gives you a greater appreciation for those that have already done it. Building your own bookshelf makes you realize all the non-obvious challenges of carpentry and gives you respect for everyone else that has undertaken the same challenge before you.
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Project Log: Reloading Bench Drawers
Problem to be solved The reloading workbench is 24 inches deep, but I have just been using 12" milk crates to store things, and lost track of anything that got pushed behind them. The crates slide surprisingly poorly on the concrete, and don't hold that much stuff.
Read moreContempt
Replace contempt with condolence. If they knew better, they would do better.
Read moreDiscomfort
When you experience discomfort, your natural response will be to ask "How can I stop this most quickly?" Instead, challenge yourself. "What would it take for me to reach my limit of this? Am I already at it? Can I go five minutes without showing a sign
Read moreNever pass up a chance to admit being wrong
I spent the better part of an hour today in a Slack discussion with coworkers about how to implement a feature ticket. We went back and forth, and fundamentally saw the issue two different ways. I didn't really see any way we could reconcile the two views. Either
Read moreThe Power and Danger of Identities
Part 1 I was talking to a friend recently, and discussing the fact that he's managed to stick with one hobby (learning Japanese) while having another hobby that used to consume much of his time go untouched for years (recording music). What I realized as we talked, and
Read moreAvoid Digital Ketchup
In 2004, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an article which, among other things, explores why there are hundreds of varieties of mustard, but only one type of ketchup. (I first encountered it in the printed collection "What The Dog Saw" which is, I think, Gladwell at his finest. Freed from
Read moreGratitude
Today is my birthday. I've had a few of them before, but for some reason this one feels different. Of course, this is the first birthday I've had since becoming a father, but this feeling, I think, is larger than that. The best way I can
Read moreHealthy Societies Are Built on Competiton
Eric Hoffer's The True Believer was published in 1951, six years after the end of World War II and two years before Stalin's death. Yet it presaged the current moment of identitarian tribalism (both on the woke left and the MAGA right) better than anything else
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