Om Malik: I have known the truth about social platforms. I quit Facebook and Instagram years ago, and candidly I am better for it. I don’t need 5000 friends — 15 good ones will do. I don’t need 5000 friends — 15 good ones will do. I read this article today, and this line has stay … | Continue reading
Homecoming, 2022 Something unexpected happened today. I was on my way out of the elementary school after having just helped a teacher with a technology problem, and a fourth grader saw me as he descended the stairs. “Hey Mario,” he says. “Our iPad’s aren’t working.” “What’s wrong … | Continue reading
September 2022 Earlier this year, I learned that I had allergies. In fact, I have had allergies for years, but I just didn’t know it. All those times where I felt like peeling my face off? Allergies. All those times where my nose would not stop running? Allergies. All those times … | Continue reading
I have a secret. Sometimes, when I’m listening to music, and I’m really feeling the sound, I like to dance. Not full-on dancing or anything—just a shake of the hips here, a rocking of my shoulders there. I like to dance when I’m cooking dinner or when I’m cleaning the house. Some … | Continue reading
I’m trying something new. Here are some notes from today, this 11th day of November, 2022: I slept for 9 hours and 8 minutes. 9 hours and 8 minutes! I woke up fully rested and ready to go. I have been happy all day. I wish I could sleep in every day. I bought an annual subscr … | Continue reading
Another night of subpar sleep, another uninspired day lived. Going to sleep isn’t the issue. It’s waking up at 3am and not being able to go back to sleep. My morning coffee helped until I went out onto the road and cautiously drove to work on slick and icy roads. Cold weather dra … | Continue reading
Winter is in full swing here in Montana, and it is both beautiful watching the snow fall and annoying. On my way to work yesterday, I was stopped on the highway for about 40 minutes because up ahead, there was a severe car crash blocking the roads. Earlier today, we had an emerge … | Continue reading
I admit, National Blog Posting Month is kicking my ass. Part of the issue is finding the time to write. Here’s a rough accounting of my daily routine: Wake up at 5am At my desk with a cup of coffee and writing in my notebook at around 5:20am Finish writing at around 6:20am-6:30am … | Continue reading
Earlier today, I opened Capture One on my Mac. Capture One is a photo editing application, very similar to Lightroom. I am and have been a Lightroom user for years, and I haven’t had any inkling to change that, but when I opened Capture One, I decided to play with it. I don’t rem … | Continue reading
In a lecture titled The Deteriorative Power of Conventional Art Over Nations, John Ruskin had this to say about art: Wherever art is practised for its own sake, and the delight of the workman is in what he does and produces, instead of in what he interprets or exhibits,—there art … | Continue reading
“I’m much more a gardener than an architect,” concluded George RR Martin in an interview with the Guardian in 2011. What did he mean? He explained that there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architec … | Continue reading
This may be hard to believe, but I am not perfect. I make mistakes. Like, all the time. One of the reasons why I’m still single in my 30s is because of the many mistakes I’ve made. After I published yesterday’s post, I went to bed feeling like something was off. Was it the clunki … | Continue reading
One of the things I don’t feel comfortable with yet is writing about topics like I’m some sort of authority on it. I don’t feel like I’m much of an authority outside of my own life. I feel confident writing about my own feelings because their mine, and I write to explore them, to … | Continue reading
And by here, I mean my website. By here, I mean my RSS feed in your RSS reader app. By here, I do not mean Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or any other social media company whose purpose is to suck up your content greedily to feed their money making machine without regard to you … | Continue reading
Have you heard of National Novel Writing Month? Apparently, there’s a National Blog Posting Month, too. After giving it very little thought, I’m going to participate in NaNo—no, NaBloMo—wait, NaBloPoMo—there we go. At least, I’m going to try. From Amy: Having taken part in NaBloP … | Continue reading
I guess we’ll have something nice to look at while the world burns around us: Climate change will increase opportunities to see rainbows, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Hawai’i (UH) at Mānoa. The study’s authors estimate that by 2100, the average … | Continue reading
To celebrate their 40th Anniversary, Library of America has reduced the prices for 40 of their boxed sets by 40% or more. I shouldn’t have, but I bought the complete novels by Kurt Vonnegut. Who doesn’t love Kurt Vonnegut? My wallet, probably. | Continue reading
A Day in the Life. Donating blood at around 1pm in western Montana. Reply via email | Continue reading
Late last month, my friend Melissa asked me if I would like to join her as she worked on her farm. It was corn chopping season, she said, and there was lots to do before the weather cooled down. Sure, I said. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I brought my camera and wen … | Continue reading
The end of summer is soon, and while I’m looking forward to fall, I’m going to miss this summer. Five months ago to the day, I wrote an essay that laid the foundation for what became one of my best summers, a summer that changed my life. Even though it began with one of the darke … | Continue reading
My favorite little 3rd grader ran up to me after school and said, “Hi Mario.” “Hey, how are you doing? How was your day?” “Good.” She paused for a moment. “Is it okay if I call you Mario Man?” “Mario Man?” “Yeah.” “Mario Man is AWESOME! Of course you can call me Mario Man.” She s … | Continue reading
Yesterday, I went on one last hike before the end of my summer. Reply via email | Continue reading
Yesterday, I changed pipe for the first time, I drove an ATV for the first time, and I got to hang out with some cows for the first time. Now this definitely caps off my pretty good summer. Reply via email | Continue reading
I went on a solo hike yesterday, a hike I’m going to remember for a long time. It was a beautiful (yet very hot) day, and the entire experience was worth it. Unfortunately, I did not have my mountain legs under me, so I’m going to be feeling this one for a few days. For me, this … | Continue reading
Found this bat hanging outside my window this morning at work. He hung out there all day. I enjoyed checking in on him here and there throughout the day. I love bats. Reply via email | Continue reading
Finally, some good news: the Earth isn’t likely to get flung off into deep space for at least 100,000 years. Phew. Reply via email | Continue reading
I had a lovely lunch with my friend today, and we had these amazing turtles for company the entire time. What a beautiful day. Reply via email | Continue reading
On my way home, I drove past another deer carcass lying lifeless on the side of the road. I’ve driven past I don’t know how many over the years, and I haven’t developed the indifference or joy I feel most people I know have toward these animals. Many people feed their families wi … | Continue reading
As much as I’m annoyed at the high gas prices right now, I don’t blame Biden. I blame myself. Among other factors, supply is low and demand is high, and the easiest thing I could do is to reduce my driving and reduce some of the demand. But the person who placed this sticker prob … | Continue reading
I needed this laugh today: A group in Poland called 4th of July LARP (LARP is short for live-action role-playing) dresses as Americans and acts out various scenarios that they imagine happening in the U.S. during the summer holiday. […] “LARP 4th of July is a drama about the wast … | Continue reading
When Ralph Waldo Emerson was in his mid-thirties, he started a series of biography lectures where he began to examine the lives of others with increased interest and scrutiny. In Emerson: The Mind on Fire, the author Robert D. Richardson writes that in Michelangelo Emerson saw “t … | Continue reading
Ten years ago today I moved to Montana, and the only thing I have been able to think about is how soon I can leave it. Ten years is a long time to live in a place, but I’m ready to move on. All I’ve been dreaming about for the past few years, and most strongly the past few months … | Continue reading
A few months ago, I wrote a reminder to myself about taking things one at a time. Since then, I learned about the book Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, a book about “embracing finitude.” I started this book today, and in the introduction, he writes that: Our days are spent … | Continue reading
It’s been about three months since my last post on my German studies, so how’s it been going? Great, I think. I haven’t taken a day off this year, and quite frankly, it’s one of the things I most look forward to each morning. I love loving German, and I’m having a blast learning … | Continue reading
Earlier this week I received Alec Soth’s newest book, A Pound of Pictures. This book represents a few things for me. The first is that it’s both my first Alec Soth book and my first photo book, and because of that, I had to get it signed. This is a massive book, one of the big … | Continue reading
They’re called The Passenger and Stella Maris: Cormac McCarthy is publishing two linked novels this fall: The Passenger on October 25 and Stella Maris on November 22. (Or you can wait until December 6 to get your boxed set.) I’ve read every McCarthy novel, and I’ve been waiting y … | Continue reading
I’m somewhat obsessive about numbers. It’s not something I’m consciously aware of, but they are something that quietly rules my life. I add page numbers to every notebook I write in, count every book I’ve read, and log how much I weigh every week or month. Recently, a few more nu … | Continue reading
Ethan Diamond: I’m excited to announce that Bandcamp is joining Epic Games, who you may know as the makers of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, and champions for a fair and open Internet. Epic: Fair and open platforms are critical to the future of the creator economy. Epic and Bandcamp … | Continue reading
Nope. Nope nope. Nope nope nope. Well, okay. Reply via email | Continue reading
I’ve been spending the past week watching Alec Soth’s channel on YouTube, and yesterday I watched his video titled COLORS #52. In it, he looks through the book COLORS: A Book About a Magazine About the Rest of the World and quotes Oliviero Toscani, one of the co-founders of the m … | Continue reading
We’re three weeks into the new year, and I needed to write this reminder to myself: I have to take things one thing at a time. I can’t overload my days with tasks and projects in an effort to “maximize” my time as “efficiently” as possible. I’m not a robot. I have and will contin … | Continue reading