In the mid 1990s, after years of carrying around a Daytimer, I entered all my notes into my Palm Pilot. A few years later I moved all my notes into OneNote, and in 2012 I moved everything into Evernote. I detailed this journey along with some Evernote pointers in my blog post, Evernote is Awesome. I spent many… Read More »
I unintentionally offended a friend when I told her that in some ways I was dreading the Covid quarantine ever ending. This little story is my way to try to explain why I feel that way.
Now that we’d narrowed down the location to the Long Beach peninsula, we focused on a lot that was in the same neighborhood as my brother’s home in Ilwaco.
I’ve been self-employed for much of my career. This was an on-again off-again arrangement earlier on, but has been my permanent situation for about fifteen years now and will be forever more. I’ve written before about the realities of being self-employed, such as the hit to your taxes, health costs, and more. But another important thing to consider… Read More »
When you focus too much on the bad you lose sight of the good. And there was actually quite a lot of good stuff that happened in 2020. While these things may not have been as headline-grabbing as bad news, it’s worth taking a few moments to acknowledge that even in 2020 there was plenty of good going on. Here is a list of 42 good things that happened in 2020.
I’ve gone far to reduce my use of single-use plastics, but why stop there? As I looked for other single-use products to focus on, I turned to paper towels.
I can be stopped in my tracks by patterns of growing moss, dew drops on a leaf, unusual clouds, shadows in the wind or, really, almost anything. Beauty is almost everywhere, especially if you look for it.
It’s not unusual for a holiday season to come and go without receiving any gifts, so I relish every little tidbit I get, including this notice from FedEx that something was en route.
About a year into the Trump presidency, the level of anger and hatred in the United States was starting to get to me. I wanted to promote the idea of people talking respectfully to each other about issues instead of jumping straight to hatred and yelling. My wonderful partner surprised me one day with the gift of the… Read More »
Whether from living in the horror-show of 2020 or because of the recent death of my father, my thoughts have been tending recently toward deeper topics than usual. Lately I’ve been thinking abut the nature of consciousness.
So, you’ve heard of Philip Glass and want more. The list of Glass compositions and performances is very long, so choosing what to listen to next is not a trivial task. I’m here to help. This post is a curated list of the approachable Glass pieces that I recommend for those just starting in their shiny new Glass obsession.
The other day I saw a huge, completely concentric, perfectly spiraled spiderweb right outside my kitchen window. In the center of this minor masterpiece was a large brown striped spider, hanging in the middle to wait for his prey.
In the nearly 20 years I’ve lived in this home, I’ve encouraged the moss in my Pacific Northwest suburban home to completely take over my lawn. Perhaps it is this, or the complete lack of herbicides, or perhaps just dumb luck — but my yard seems to provide the ideal growing conditions for mushrooms. Last year, when I… Read More »
2020 has been the year that everyone jokes can get no worse. Which of curse jinxed it.
Mother nature, or at least her complete schmuck of an illegitimate son Climate Change, decided to make things worse. Cue the weeks of soaring temperatures, add high winds, stir in a conflagration — and now much of the United States, especially the west, is on fire.
Like many people, I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. And that reason is … so you can use the experience to spark creative ideas. … so you can deepen your capacity for compassion. … so you can add to your catalog of experiences. … so you can appreciate the things you have.