Several years ago, one afternoon at work, I was reading an article on The Guardian about the Arab Spring and the violent reprisals various Arab governments launched, especially in Syria. The specificity of the memory — where I was, what it was about — is striking. What followed has stayed with me. There was a … Continue reading When the World Overwhelms…
Tag: Life
Today I went for a walkabout. It’s a nice autumn day, it’s nice to get outside. The walk just so happened to coincide with the Automattic Worldwide WP 5K, a virtual 5K for users of WordPress. It’s not really a race, and I certainly didn’t run. So, I’ll say that my walk today was part … Continue reading A Graveyard of Watermelons
Around the age of nineteen or twenty, I had the idea that I might want to work in film. I had no talent as an actor, I had no desire to attend film school or take classes, and my attempts at writing scripts were laughable at best. At the time, the Star Trek television series … Continue reading On (Not) Going Hollywood
There is a memory from childhood that haunts me. I was in bed last night, staring at the ceiling, and the memory came to me, demanding attention. It may have been in elementary school, though junior high seems more likely. I can’t place it exactly in my mind. Seventh grade, perhaps? 1984? That seems not … Continue reading A Haunting Memory from Childhood
Oh, look at that. A new year’s begun, I’ve barely noted it, and the first month is already half gone. Hopefully the rest of the year won’t pass by in such a whirl. 🙂 This year will be momentous. I can feel it, and I’m already making plans. I intend to write more. I’ve already … Continue reading On Momentousness
Today I felt unnerved, even apprehensive. I couldn’t figure out why. I posted on Twitter that I felt “lonely,” but that couldn’t be it, surely? Then I realized that I hadn’t had a meaningful conversation with anyone in a day and a half. See, I don’t handle solitude well. It’s a weird personality quirk of … Continue reading On the Sunday Feeling
It’s been a week. Every month when the catalogs go to press, it’s a rougher week than usual. There’s last minute writing (often late night alcohol-fueled writing), long days at the office, and needless stress. This month, all of that was amped up to eleven. There were also spreadsheets to be entered into the CMS, … Continue reading On the Week That Was
January 1st. The start of a new year. A “turn the page” moment, a time when the slate is wiped clean and one can start fresh. That’s my feeling on every day, that the new day is a blank slate on which anything can be written, so it should be my feeling on the start … Continue reading On 2011 In Review
The son of a friend of mine had a birthday recently. This is the (slightly edited) text of the e-mail I sent him. As you are turning twelve, I wanted to give you two pieces of advice. First, cherish the coming year and live every day as if it will never end. You are twelve, … Continue reading On Philosophies and Birthday Wishes
If you got to relive one day of your life, when would it be? It’s tempting to pick a day when something really bad happened. Maybe it’s a date of an unfortunate accident, like getting lost in fog and running a car headfirst into a stone wall. Maybe it’s a day when a drunk driver … Continue reading On Reliving Moments from the Past
I haven’t felt much like blogging the last few weeks, the last two weeks especially. I haven’t lacked for things to say, life hasn’t been uninteresting. I haven’t cared to share any of it. Work has been keeping me busy. I haven’t been sleeping. I’ve been working on a WordPress project. I’ve been writing. I’ve … Continue reading On What I’ve Been Up To
On my lunch break, I walked to Borders. As most people know, Borders is in dire financial straits, and while the Borders near the office is one of the stores that survived the closing axe a few months ago, the company is still on the brink of oblivion and stores may shutter within a week … Continue reading On a Parking Lot Encounter