A long time ago, I published this because at one point I was an enthusiastic believer in the power of social media. No longer. I haven’t posted on Instagram for a while. This was my last post: View this post on Instagram …read more…
Posts contained in the “Modern Life” category:
Items from my life, and therefore, completely boring.
About all those self-help books you’ve been meaning to read…
I was going through some old files, and I found this in a journal entry from ten years ago: Ten years later, and I’m pretty much convinced that most of them are 5% common sense and 95% made-up bullshit about that little bit of common sense. To be fair, I guess this is to be …read more…
Consider January…
Adult me has always detested January. After three solid months of prepping for and celebrating holidays (Hallowe’en, Thanksgiving, Christmas), January is just boring. There are no big holidays that you celebrate with friends or family, the days are short and cold, the skies are always a formless grey, filled with a blanket of shapeless clouds. …read more…
When you are…
I don’t know where this originally came from. I found it the other day when I was clearing out some papers in my office. When you are alone, mind your thoughts. When you are with friends, mind your tongue. When you are angry, mind your temper. When you are with a group, mind your behavior. …read more…
Religious Wars Explained
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Peter Johanns (@peteytvprof) His entire account is pretty funny, actually. It was a bit of a shock to see him post this. But it’s true.
How to Translate Business Emails
The business world has its own weird way of communicating. It likes jargon and coded language. But never fear! Here is a translation of some of the most common phrases and expressions you’re likely to see in an email. “Thanks in advance” — Get this done by the time I hit “send”. “Thanks for your …read more…
Cousin by Wilco
Wilco is one of those bands that has always been running in the background of my life. I’m aware of them, I like their music, but I’ve never been a huge fan. I don’t know why, really. Not enough time? Not enough energy? (Okay, there are reasons for this that I will talk about at …read more…
broken…lost…free
So this came into my Instagram feed this morning: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Art Never Sleeps (@artneversleeps) As an American, and as a member of a western, consumerist culture, this struck home …read more…
Journals, Part Three
It’s been two years (and a bit) since I last talked about my journaling process. Not much has changed really. I usually use a 70-page wide-ruled notebook. When I was teaching, I would stock up on these during the summer back-to-school sales when you could get six or seven for a dollar. I still have …read more…
Literally everything you need to know about conspiracy theories
You’re welcome.
Precepts to Live by
What follows are some good ideas I’ve picked up over the years. I doubt that all of them are applicable in all situations (except perhaps for the first five), so treat them like salt and pepper: use them when you need them. Use your words. People aren’t mind readers. “No” is a complete sentence. When …read more…
Need to Press Paws
I have recently found out that Not Always Right (as in “the customer is not always right”) is a delightful way to spend a few hours. Originally dedicated to tales from The Retail Wars, it later expanded to include stories about people being absolutely awesome (such as the story about the child who had never …read more…
A few thoughts on the dumpster fire that is capitalism…part 2
Capitalism means I get charged $125 to cancel a $200 ticket by an airline that’s getting bailed out with my taxpayer money. — Laila Lalami (@LailaLalami) April 3, 2020 And what the hell, let’s toss one in for the ammosexuals:
