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Book Review - The Surrender Experiment With the book The Surrender Experiment, author Michael (Mickey) Singer, gives us a gift. In this...
6th Apr 2020
39

Book Review - The Surrender Experiment

from Blog - Anchorpointexpeditions.com [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Apr 2020
With the book The Surrender Experiment, author Michael (Mickey) Singer, gives us a gift. In this eloquently penned biography of his “journey into life’s perfection”, he demonstrates the beauty that life can provide for us when we are not solely guided by our logical,...
Lieutenants are the limiting reagent Why don't software companies ship more products? Why do they move more slowly as they grow? What do...
25th Sep 2023
28

Lieutenants are the limiting reagent

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Sep 2023
Why don't software companies ship more products? Why do they move more slowly as they grow? What do we mean when we say "this company lacks focus"?
✏️ 2023 in the Rearview End-of-year recaps and reviews haven't been something I do. Generally, my mindset is about embracing...
3rd Mar 2024
23

✏️ 2023 in the Rearview

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Mar 2024
End-of-year recaps and reviews haven't been something I do. Generally, my mindset is about embracing the present, with a gentle forward momentum towards what comes next. Years ago, I heard an Imam once speak about not having regrets. I took that to heart at the time and have...
1st Dec 2025
🔗 Rick Rubin on Listening If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself getting lost in...
15th Jul 2024
53

🔗 Rick Rubin on Listening

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Jul 2024
If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself getting lost in the experience. When the piece ends, you might be surprised by where you find yourself. You’ve been transported to another place. The place where the music lives. — Rick...
Natale Adgnot Country couture The post Natale Adgnot appeared first on The American Scholar.
3rd Nov 2025
12

Natale Adgnot

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Nov 2025
Country couture The post Natale Adgnot appeared first on The American Scholar.
'The Things Which Make a Life of Ease' R.L. Barth, our finest living epigrammist (admittedly, not a vast job description), has sent me his...
1st Jun 2025
38

'The Things Which Make a Life of Ease'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jun 2025
R.L. Barth, our finest living epigrammist (admittedly, not a vast job description), has sent me his translation of a well-known epigram by Martial, the Roman master of the pithy form. Bob found it among his papers and doesn’t remember making it. “[T]ranslating something [Ben]...
'On the Plains of Poland' On August 23, 1939, Hitler and Stalin agreed to the secret non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact....
3 weeks ago
1

'On the Plains of Poland'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

3 weeks ago
On August 23, 1939, Hitler and Stalin agreed to the secret non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Germans invaded Poland from the west nine days later, on September 1, 1939. On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The battle was over, Poland subdued, by...
✏️ Ernie Is Our Co-Pilot Hello. You’re receiving this long-dormant-now-re-reawakaned newsletter because at some point in the...
25th Sep 2021
17

✏️ Ernie Is Our Co-Pilot

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Sep 2021
Hello. You’re receiving this long-dormant-now-re-reawakaned newsletter because at some point in the past you subscribed. (Thank you, by the way.) Back then, I was writing about some nexus of travels abroad, personal or professional news, and technology-ish topics. There are some...
Protests and Power In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on...
4th Oct 2020
19

Protests and Power

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Oct 2020
In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on authoritarianism and democracy. They declined to publish my submission, which I am sharing here instead. When the George Floyd protests began to spread nationally in the summer of 2020, I...
3rd Nov 2025
New Year, Old Year The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jan 2025
59

New Year, Old Year

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2025
The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
3 weeks ago
Book Notes: 'The Case Against Sugar' by Gary Taube In the last few weeks, I read The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes. I found it to be compelling...
12th Aug 2019
21

Book Notes: 'The Case Against Sugar' by Gary Taube

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Aug 2019
In the last few weeks, I read The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes. I found it to be compelling (more on that in a moment) and I want to be impacted by them. I want the daily decisions that I make to be subtly influenced by this author and these books. Related but in a different...
Have the Coffee Carve space out for opportunity. After speaking in Kuala Lumpur last week, people stayed to discuss...
9th Sep 2025
1

Have the Coffee

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

9th Sep 2025
Carve space out for opportunity. After speaking in Kuala Lumpur last week, people stayed to discuss the topics we’d covered, forming a small group. Building community was a weighty topic during the event, with myself, host Shaza Hakim, and many attendees speaking to it. In this...
wagner's ring: believing in the stakes or: how to get ring cycle pilled
20th Nov 2024
1

wagner's ring: believing in the stakes

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Nov 2024
or: how to get ring cycle pilled
Quality, Maintenance & Craft We are shokunin. Last week I was in Ojai, California, for True’s Founder Camp.[1] James Freeman,...
12th Mar 2025
57

Quality, Maintenance & Craft

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Mar 2025
We are shokunin. Last week I was in Ojai, California, for True’s Founder Camp.[1] James Freeman, founder of Blue Bottle Coffee was in conversation with Jeff Veen, and one of the attendees asked him: “How do you maintain such high quality?” Freeman answers, “‘Maintaining’ is a...
The Tragedy of Hoffman by Henry Chettle - The first step to revenge His father hanged by the neck until dead for the high crime of piracy, Hoffman vows Revenge! on the...
7th Apr 2026
1

The Tragedy of Hoffman by Henry Chettle - The first step to revenge

from Wuthering Expectations [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Apr 2026
His father hanged by the neck until dead for the high crime of piracy, Hoffman vows Revenge! on the duke who executed his father.  By chance the duke’s son is shipwrecked exactly where Hoffman is keeping Hoffman, Sr.’s corpse hanging on the wall of a cave, so Hoffman tortures and...
Some remarks on being stuck, with digressions on David Hockney, developing style, and gardens If something feels wrong, it is useful to articulate very precisely why that is
2 weeks ago
3
2 weeks ago
If something feels wrong, it is useful to articulate very precisely why that is
The Message The post The Message appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
3rd Nov 2025
1

The Message

from The Perry Bible Fellowship [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Nov 2025
The post The Message appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Playing Pranks My wife played a brilliant prank on me today, as she does every year. Here’s a partial...
1st Apr 2014
22

Playing Pranks

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2014
My wife played a brilliant prank on me today, as she does every year. Here’s a partial list: Convincing me that I was about to eat a slice of carrot cake; it was a sponge covered with toothpaste. I bit into it. Convincing me that she had, in anger and frustration, cut off almost...
The third annual Elysian print volume is here One year of my work, printed for collectors.
9th Dec 2025
2

The third annual Elysian print volume is here

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

9th Dec 2025
One year of my work, printed for collectors.
Model City Monday 2/3/25 Things fall apart
3rd Feb 2025
42

Model City Monday 2/3/25

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Feb 2025
Things fall apart
Hacked The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
5th Apr 2024
29

Hacked

from The Perry Bible Fellowship [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Apr 2024
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Claude is kicking ChatGPT’s butt (in one thing) Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the...
15th Jul 2025
1

Claude is kicking ChatGPT’s butt (in one thing)

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Jul 2025
Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the PDF coming attached, it was a link to a site called Dropbox. Upon opening the file, you create an account. From there you’re introduced to a feature stack that went well beyond any...
Relationships are coevolutionary loops Looking for Alice, part 3
31st Oct 2023
33

Relationships are coevolutionary loops

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

31st Oct 2023
Looking for Alice, part 3
The One Hundred Milliseconds Between the World and You: Oliver Sacks on Perception “If the doors of perception were cleansed,” William Blake wrote, “everything would appear to man as...
2nd Jun 2025
30
2nd Jun 2025
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,” William Blake wrote, “everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” But we are finite creatures, in time and in space, and there is a limit to how much reality we can bear — evolution gave us consciousness so that we may sieve the...
On Cleaner Controllers A few days ago, I worked on a project that was mostly about serving up basic store data (modeled...
9th May 2017
19

On Cleaner Controllers

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

9th May 2017
A few days ago, I worked on a project that was mostly about serving up basic store data (modeled after Etsy) to an API. We had a few dozen end-points, and all responses were in JSON. Most of the action happened inside of our controllers, and as you might imagine, our routes.rb...
Building FirstMover I had one month to find a place to live in Manhattan. I reached out to friends for tips, and nearly...
14th Sep 2024
29

Building FirstMover

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Sep 2024
I had one month to find a place to live in Manhattan. I reached out to friends for tips, and nearly all of them pointed me to StreetEasy, the Zillow-owned NYC real estate search platform. Some of my more Type-A friends gave me extra helpful advice: Narrow your search to 2-4...
Beyond Curiosity I'm not sure he meant it that way. We were walking together in the shopping center. The central...
15th Jul 2025
1

Beyond Curiosity

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Jul 2025
I'm not sure he meant it that way. We were walking together in the shopping center. The central escalators made you loop around on the floor on the short side to proceed to the next set. As we neared the ground floor, headed to the food court sub-level, my father posited a...
The Universe in Verse Book "We need science to help us meet reality on its own terms, and we need poetry to help us broaden and...
1st May 2024
52

The Universe in Verse Book

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st May 2024
"We need science to help us meet reality on its own terms, and we need poetry to help us broaden and deepen the terms on which we meet ourselves and each other. At the crossing point of the two we may find a way of clarifying our experience and of sanctifying it."
Space to Play Space to Play I remember childhood as the slow advance of a great laboring Seriousness. When I was...
26th Feb 2025
52

Space to Play

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Feb 2025
Space to Play I remember childhood as the slow advance of a great laboring Seriousness. When I was in middle school, an awareness began to settle on me that great beings known as “colleges” watched from afar; by high school I understood that I ought to order my life to be...
✏️ The Amasa 25K, My First Trail Race Two years ago, I broke my elbow. A year ago, I put cycling on hold due to discomfort on the bike and...
29th May 2024
22

✏️ The Amasa 25K, My First Trail Race

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

29th May 2024
Two years ago, I broke my elbow. A year ago, I put cycling on hold due to discomfort on the bike and soon after started running as a cardio and endurance-based complement to my longstanding passion for rock climbing. Trail running and ultras have captured my attention in recent...
✏️ On Racism On May 31, 2020, I wrote these words (on Instagram) days after George Floyd was killed: I am a brown...
18th Mar 2021
17

✏️ On Racism

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Mar 2021
On May 31, 2020, I wrote these words (on Instagram) days after George Floyd was killed: I am a brown person. I am an immigrant. I am Southeast Asian. I am Malaysian. And I am an American. I’m a third culture kid. I came to the States at 19, alone. I’ve lived here for 22+ years,...
reclaiming the wälsungs part of a body of work on Wagner's Ring cycle
14th Dec 2024
1

reclaiming the wälsungs

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Dec 2024
part of a body of work on Wagner's Ring cycle
Modus Operandi My operating rules and way of living. This is a m.o. (mo) page, or modus operandi page. It lists out...
14th Apr 2025
62

Modus Operandi

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2025
My operating rules and way of living. This is a m.o. (mo) page, or modus operandi page. It lists out the way I approach my life and the rules I apply to it to thrive. This is a living document and will be added to as more comes to mind, or as I develop new ones. It is mirrored at...
A Junction Efficiency Metric: Vehicles Per Square Meter Per Minute still sorta drafty, but also its entirely possible the point is easily apprehended, and I’m way...
13th Sep 2025
1

A Junction Efficiency Metric: Vehicles Per Square Meter Per Minute

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

13th Sep 2025
still sorta drafty, but also its entirely possible the point is easily apprehended, and I’m way over-explaining Introduction Elsewhere, I’ve been referring to a ‘vehicles per square meter per minute’ calculation, when talking about junctions on mobility networks. The first place...
✏️ Music is Memory Stone Temple Pilots’ “Kitchenware & Candybars” comes on, and suddenly I'm 17 again, driving...
3rd Sep 2024
20

✏️ Music is Memory

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Sep 2024
Stone Temple Pilots’ “Kitchenware & Candybars” comes on, and suddenly I'm 17 again, driving underneath the amber glow of late-night deserted streets in Kuala Lumpur. I can feel the sharp air conditioning in the car against my skin, keeping the tropical heat and humidity outside...
'Influential Works That Are Almost Never Read' John Ruskin would have a difficult time of it in what passes for literary culture today. First, he...
20th Jan 2025
27

'Influential Works That Are Almost Never Read'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Jan 2025
John Ruskin would have a difficult time of it in what passes for literary culture today. First, he was phenomenally prolific, even by Victorian standards, and how many people would read all five volumes of Modern Painters or the idea-rich sprawl of Fors Clavigera? Second, Ruskin...
1st Mar 2022
✏️ On a Low and a High A few days separate us from our time at Canyon of the Ancients and our last camp from this fall...
14th Apr 2022
19

✏️ On a Low and a High

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2022
A few days separate us from our time at Canyon of the Ancients and our last camp from this fall trip. After a mangled tale of an ER (mis)visit and a return for refuge at Sage Canyon (this time camping just outside the Workshop Loft — thank you, Grant, for the use of your bathroom...
Creative kernels Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
1st Jul 2024
24

Creative kernels

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2024
Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
1st Jul 2026
#92 Kevin Hawkins on Project Quiver Kevin Hawkins is a bowyer based in North Carolina and moderator and owner of the Primitive Archer...
4 weeks ago
1

#92 Kevin Hawkins on Project Quiver

from Salish Wolf [alt+shift+b] in literature

4 weeks ago
Kevin Hawkins is a bowyer based in North Carolina and moderator and owner of the Primitive Archer Forum. He recently took over the Forum from the founders to preserve the community that has given so much to him as a bowyer and plans to maintain and update it so it can...
3rd Aug 2026
Invasion of the Universe I wonder how many of those of us who write exclusively on literature and read only novels, poetry,...
14th May 2026
1

Invasion of the Universe

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th May 2026
I wonder how many of those of us who write exclusively on literature and read only novels, poetry, literary criticism and occasionally into related subjects, have an otherwise unaccountable curiosity with another beyond the literary horizon. Many, I imagine. I'm not talking about...
John Quincy Adams on Impostor Syndrome and the True Measure of Success “You will never get any more out of life than you expect,” Bruce Lee wrote to himself. All...
3rd Jun 2024
99

John Quincy Adams on Impostor Syndrome and the True Measure of Success

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jun 2024
“You will never get any more out of life than you expect,” Bruce Lee wrote to himself. All expectation is a story of the possible. Every person lives inside a story of who they are, what they are worth, and what is possible for their life, and suffers in proportion to how...
October 2016 Goals In the last year, I’ve fluctuated between writing every day for 30 days and not posting once in...
19th Oct 2016
20

October 2016 Goals

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

19th Oct 2016
In the last year, I’ve fluctuated between writing every day for 30 days and not posting once in two months. Frankly, neither of those is good for me. I like writing because it clarifies my own thoughts. Sometimes it seems useful to others. I like to be useful (“utility” can...
What I Read in July 2026 – Some links found verbal form, others remained mere promises, mist, soft... Soon I will put up a fall schedule for my plunge back into non-Shakespearian plays, from say 1604 to...
14th Aug 2026
2
14th Aug 2026
Soon I will put up a fall schedule for my plunge back into non-Shakespearian plays, from say 1604 to 1614, an exciting stretch.  Middleton, Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher will dominate.   SHAKESPEAREAN The Adventures of Lady Egeria (1585), W. C. – Half tedious, half confounding,...
Ribbonfarm is Retiring After several years of keeping it going in semi-retired, keep-the-lights-on (KTLO) mode, I’ve...
11th Oct 2024
46

Ribbonfarm is Retiring

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th Oct 2024
After several years of keeping it going in semi-retired, keep-the-lights-on (KTLO) mode, I’ve decided to officially fully retire this blog. The ribbonfarm.com domain and all links will remain active, but there will be no new content after November 13th, 2024, which happens to be...
Stealing is a Skill I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency,...
24th Jun 2026
1

Stealing is a Skill

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Jun 2026
I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency, and write down what makes you happy. I’d like to add one more to the list: stealing is a skill! Stealing is good for the soul. If done well, you will be able to build value at...
Injury Impedes Improvement Kristi and I have been in Colorado for three months, I’ve been climbing regularly for two, I am back...
24th Sep 2014
19

Injury Impedes Improvement

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Sep 2014
Kristi and I have been in Colorado for three months, I’ve been climbing regularly for two, I am back in shape and it feels good. I am tempted to throw myself into climbing again. To climb every day, or maybe every other day, and finish every session with training. But here’s the...
Idea Labs! An open thread for collaborative worldbuilding Let's brainstorm the future together.
22nd Mar 2024
58

Idea Labs! An open thread for collaborative worldbuilding

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

22nd Mar 2024
Let's brainstorm the future together.
Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk! Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk! For the last three years, I’ve been working on Offpunk, a...
1st Apr 2025
53

Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk!

from Ploum.net [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2025
Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk! For the last three years, I’ve been working on Offpunk, a command-line gemini and web browser. Offpunk.net While my initial goal was to browse the Geminisphere offline, the mission has slowly morphed into cleaning and unenshitiffying the modern...
1st Jun 2022
30th Nov 2024
Bollards: Why & What author’s note: it’s always fun to see your own stuff on the Hacker News front page! This very post...
30th Apr 2024
29

Bollards: Why & What

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Apr 2024
author’s note: it’s always fun to see your own stuff on the Hacker News front page! This very post sparked >450 comments worth of conversation! I didn’t even know this got posted until days later! What are bollards The what and the why in a single image: The what and why in a...
Being creative requires taking risks When children learn to draw, they tend to make more and more interesting images for several years...
7th Jan 2026
1

Being creative requires taking risks

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Jan 2026
When children learn to draw, they tend to make more and more interesting images for several years until around age five, when they learn to be boring.
La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond Outre la première victoire au Tour de France d’Eddy...
3rd Apr 2026
1

La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond

from Ploum.net [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Apr 2026
La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond Outre la première victoire au Tour de France d’Eddy Merckx, 1969 fut une année qui marqua trois événements très importants. 1. Le premier homme sur la Lune Deux de ces événements ont encore aujourd’hui un impact quotidien dans votre...
We’ve raised $50,000—now I’m writing a book! My vision for the future of capitalism has been greenlit. Now let’s make it a reality.
5th May 2025
37

We’ve raised $50,000—now I’m writing a book!

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th May 2025
My vision for the future of capitalism has been greenlit. Now let’s make it a reality.
'My Mind Was Not Free From Perturbation' Dr. Johnson writes in his diary on January 1, 1774: “This year has past with so little improvement,...
1st Jan 2026
2

'My Mind Was Not Free From Perturbation'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2026
Dr. Johnson writes in his diary on January 1, 1774: “This year has past with so little improvement, that I doubt whether I have not [rather] impaired than encreased my Learning.”  It’s customary, of course, to make resolutions this time of year -- to lose weight or stop drinking...
The Story of Mumbet Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and...
2nd Mar 2026
1

The Story of Mumbet

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Mar 2026
Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and respect? The post The Story of Mumbet appeared first on The American Scholar.
I want to love fiction I want to love fiction I want to love fiction. I want to love both reading and writing fiction. I...
14th Apr 2024
27

I want to love fiction

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2024
I want to love fiction I want to love fiction. I want to love both reading and writing fiction. I want to obsess over the craft of fiction, to pore over characterization and structure, to create stories that radiate color and humanity and hope. I want fiction to be a tool for...
What I Read in June 2026 – I don’t know, that’s all words, never wake, all words, there’s nothing... Oh right, I can pretend I am writing something.  Some notes on books I read in the distant...
22nd Jul 2026
1
22nd Jul 2026
Oh right, I can pretend I am writing something.  Some notes on books I read in the distant past. NOT SHAKESPEARE The Dutch Courtesan (1604), John Marston – Discussed long ago. Poems (1594-1612), George Chapman – A superb, innovative poet, somehow an Ovidian and an...
How to fly… like a boss I am in a quest to level up my life. Free flights is a big part of this. I’ve not gotten too many...
7th Oct 2013
27

How to fly… like a boss

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Oct 2013
I am in a quest to level up my life. Free flights is a big part of this. I’ve not gotten too many of those yet, but the next best thing is free seat upgrades. I’m not talking about first class - that’s beyond me, at the moment. I’m talking about getting stuck in the back of the...
Quotes from 'Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving', by Pete Walker I’ve found Pete Walker’s Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving to be deeply helpful. Some of you,...
11th Aug 2022
24

Quotes from 'Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving', by Pete Walker

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th Aug 2022
I’ve found Pete Walker’s Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving to be deeply helpful. Some of you, many of you, have blessed me and cared for me in kind ways, sometimes with very little knowledge of what was going on, or why I was the way that I was. Thank you. I’ve been...
Different Think I don't write about Apple. I had to this time. It started with a magazine ad. A musician I admired...
5th Aug 2025
1

Different Think

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Aug 2025
I don't write about Apple. I had to this time. It started with a magazine ad. A musician I admired was pictured: Henry Rollins, looking as he does, in black, shorts, tattoos visible and holding a computer. An Apple Powerbook. He appears with Terry Ellis from Imago Records,...
Mythical Creatures: Refactoring wizard.rb Preparing for Turing Series Index What follows is an eight-part series that will help you pick up...
25th Jan 2020
22

Mythical Creatures: Refactoring wizard.rb

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Jan 2020
Preparing for Turing Series Index What follows is an eight-part series that will help you pick up useful information about a number of topics related to Ruby, specifically geared for students learning the Ruby programming language, as part of the Turing School’s Backend Software...
A measure of forever For me, fiction is a space of plainness and excess.             Amina Cain When TS Eliot read...
3rd Mar 2025
1

A measure of forever

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Mar 2025
For me, fiction is a space of plainness and excess.             Amina Cain When TS Eliot read Dante for the first time, he noted a discrepancy between his enjoyment and his understanding, leading to the famous claim that "genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood"....
Blood Flow Restriction with Tyler old draft, publishing, needs polish. Me: Sport climber, decade+, of and on a few different times...
16th Feb 2019
1

Blood Flow Restriction with Tyler

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Feb 2019
old draft, publishing, needs polish. Me: Sport climber, decade+, of and on a few different times over the years. Educate myself, train as effectively and safely as I can. I’m 30, and wanna hit some significant climbing goals by 40, and a big part of that is getting stronger,...
Movies I went out of my way to watch Introduction I’ve long liked to accrue certain lists of things I like within certain categories. to...
22nd Oct 2025
1

Movies I went out of my way to watch

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

22nd Oct 2025
Introduction I’ve long liked to accrue certain lists of things I like within certain categories. to list appreciable books invites a similar list for movies and movie-like things. It feels strange to list all of these movies like this, in some ways, especially the first two...
Mario Ayala Research while driving The post Mario Ayala appeared first on The American Scholar.
2nd Feb 2026
1

Mario Ayala

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Feb 2026
Research while driving The post Mario Ayala appeared first on The American Scholar.
3rd May 2023
✏️ Follow vs. Block In the beginning, you followed someone to see their content in your feed. Now, you block someone to...
2nd Jan 2024
20

✏️ Follow vs. Block

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jan 2024
In the beginning, you followed someone to see their content in your feed. Now, you block someone to remove them from your feed. That’s the price of an endless algorithmic feed designed to keep you in-app or on-platform, entertained, and eventually (if not already) monetized. A...
Platform or Point Solution? A while back, I wrote a post titled “What is a Platform?”. I defined what a platform is and why tech...
8th Mar 2025
62

Platform or Point Solution?

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Mar 2025
A while back, I wrote a post titled “What is a Platform?”. I defined what a platform is and why tech companies are so determined to become labeled as one. My definition of a platform is a tool that allows users to define and build their own things, which can be used by other...
The Unphotographable: Richard Adams on the Singular Magic of Autumn There is a lovely liminality to autumn — this threshold time between the centripetal exuberance of...
13th Oct 2024
43

The Unphotographable: Richard Adams on the Singular Magic of Autumn

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

13th Oct 2024
There is a lovely liminality to autumn — this threshold time between the centripetal exuberance of summer and the season for tending to the inner garden, as Rilke wrote of winter. Autumn is a living metaphor for the necessary losses that shape our human lives: What falls away...
Waking Up Early, Part 3 I’ve written about my attempts to wake up early before. Most recently, I promised to take a sleep...
2nd Aug 2013
25

Waking Up Early, Part 3

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Aug 2013
I’ve written about my attempts to wake up early before. Most recently, I promised to take a sleep log, to track trends. Fortunately, I did not intend to try to wake up early, because I didn’t. Here’s what I learned in the last three weeks: Benadryl messes with your ability to...
On Friction warning. self-indulgeant diatribe coming. I generally try to avoid these, but it’s my website, and I...
20th Dec 2017
22

On Friction

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Dec 2017
warning. self-indulgeant diatribe coming. I generally try to avoid these, but it’s my website, and I can write what I want. We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year, and I’ve got a few dozen ideas rolling around my head that I want to solidify my thoughts on. One of the...
Between the Infinite and the Infinitesimal: A Scientist’s Search for the Fulcrum of Faith "The universe is not a place where evolution happens, it is the evolution happening. It is not a...
2nd Feb 2024
61
2nd Feb 2024
"The universe is not a place where evolution happens, it is the evolution happening. It is not a stage on which drama unfolds, it is the unfolding drama itself."
'Those Little Cracklings of Mirth and Folly' Who is being described and who is doing the describing: “His prose is the model of the middle style;...
1st May 2026
1

'Those Little Cracklings of Mirth and Folly'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st May 2026
Who is being described and who is doing the describing: “His prose is the model of the middle style; on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not grovelling; pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration; always equable, and always easy, without...
Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!) alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and...
3rd Apr 2025
36

Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!)

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Apr 2025
alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and climbing Introduction A few months ago, I began some barefoot sprints up a hill at a local park, and discussed also adding heavy kettlebell swings. My back started feeling great,...
Book Review - Dancing Naked in the Mind Field Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, the autobiography of Kary Mullis, published in 1998, is...
26th Jun 2021
49

Book Review - Dancing Naked in the Mind Field

from Blog - Anchorpointexpeditions.com [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Jun 2021
Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, the autobiography of Kary Mullis, published in 1998, is reminiscent of another Nobel Prize winning autobiography, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!. Dr. Mullis and Dr. Feynman had a great deal in common, including their incomprehensible...
✏️ Grantland Day 22: Oct 1, 2023 — As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet,...
1st Oct 2023
19

✏️ Grantland

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Oct 2023
Day 22: Oct 1, 2023 — As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet, we’re subject to alpine weather rules. Meaning, isolated storms can cycle in at anytime, and they do. Lightning flashes, thunder cracks. We sleep in fits and starts. I remove the...
[RIDGELINE] Walk and Talk — The Portuguese Costal Camino Ridgeline subscribers — We were lucky. Maybe the luckiest group walking the Portuguese costal...
14th Apr 2026
1

[RIDGELINE] Walk and Talk — The Portuguese Costal Camino

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2026
Ridgeline subscribers — We were lucky. Maybe the luckiest group walking the Portuguese costal Camino. (Certainly the second luckiest.) All the things conspired in our favor: The weather, the food, the quality of the path (lots of great seaside boardwalk walking for miles and...
I'm crowdfunding my next book advance And sharing the earnings with readers.
2nd Mar 2025
48

I'm crowdfunding my next book advance

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Mar 2025
And sharing the earnings with readers.
Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately...
19th Jul 2015
25

Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

19th Jul 2015
Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately unneeded, like old receipts and confirmations.  Much of the rest was notes related to goals (“Checklist to move out of MD Apartment”, “Planning trip to Buenos Aires”) or to...
Dottie Lo Bue House and home The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
4th Nov 2024
58

Dottie Lo Bue

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Nov 2024
House and home The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
Demonstration Junction Repair on Downing in Denver I was out and about by scooter a recent warm january saturday evening. Earlier in the week a few...
9th Dec 2025
1

Demonstration Junction Repair on Downing in Denver

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

9th Dec 2025
I was out and about by scooter a recent warm january saturday evening. Earlier in the week a few companies had been operating drilling equipment in the area. I’m not sure what they were doing, but they were scattered all about the neighborhood. The work was done, but traffic...
The Violence of God and the Hermeneutics of Paul Sometimes I (Josh) want to share around certain academic works. Sometimes its a PDF that I want...
8th Aug 2021
32

The Violence of God and the Hermeneutics of Paul

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Aug 2021
Sometimes I (Josh) want to share around certain academic works. Sometimes its a PDF that I want someone to download and read, sometimes it’s text from a book I’ve read, and cannot otherwise get a sharable format of. So, I laboriously take photos of pages, use an optical character...
4th May 2026
Circles of Influence I was listening to a podcast today, where they said if you have problems knowing what to write...
5th Mar 2016
20

Circles of Influence

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Mar 2016
I was listening to a podcast today, where they said if you have problems knowing what to write about, or you’ve hit a block, write about something that angers you. This is easy. I could write about any number of things that we’ve all read in a newspaper, and get good and angry...
When coordination pays off Stories about Stripe Link where we have to do a lot of upfront coordination but it was worth it.
6th Oct 2024
38

When coordination pays off

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Oct 2024
Stories about Stripe Link where we have to do a lot of upfront coordination but it was worth it.
Creating a global safety net without nation-states A Guest Lecture featuring Sondre Rasch, co-founder and CEO of SafetyWing.
3rd Jun 2025
38

Creating a global safety net without nation-states

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jun 2025
A Guest Lecture featuring Sondre Rasch, co-founder and CEO of SafetyWing.
✏️ Biblioteca Vasconselos In the Buenavista neighborhood resides this impressive library that spans 409,000 sq ft, designed by...
2nd Jan 2021
32

✏️ Biblioteca Vasconselos

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jan 2021
In the Buenavista neighborhood resides this impressive library that spans 409,000 sq ft, designed by Mexican architects Alberto Kalach and Juan Palomar. Adored by those that appreciate architecture, and those looking for Instagram fodder, the space feels like you’re in the...
Let's All Wear A Mask Let's talk about masks! On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that every...
5th Apr 2020
19

Let's All Wear A Mask

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Apr 2020
Let's talk about masks! On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that every American wear a face covering when in public. Masks will be the hot, bold look for summer. The medical evidence for the practice is overwhelming. The post-SARS countries in East...
Simpler Screens Smartphones are a distraction. Numerous studies and research have proven out various scenarios: from...
5th Feb 2025
58

Simpler Screens

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Feb 2025
Smartphones are a distraction. Numerous studies and research have proven out various scenarios: from students unable to learn as well, to laws prohibiting hands-on device use while driving, and the various apps and platforms that buzz, ping, and are designed to distract. People...
Issues related to the city of Golden While I was biking around recently, I saw notes about an upcoming neighborhood meeting about some...
26th Jul 2021
27

Issues related to the city of Golden

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Jul 2021
While I was biking around recently, I saw notes about an upcoming neighborhood meeting about some rezoning, a big lot in downtown Golden. I went to the meeting (Thursday, July 22) and learned a lot. Here’s the lot in question: I have ridden my bike past this property hundreds of...
Blink Twice to Quell a Quasar: Carl Sagan on Superstition Growing up in Bulgaria, in a city teeming in stray dogs and cars, I was deeply distressed by the...
4th Aug 2025
31

Blink Twice to Quell a Quasar: Carl Sagan on Superstition

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Aug 2025
Growing up in Bulgaria, in a city teeming in stray dogs and cars, I was deeply distressed by the sight of each dead animal in the streets between home and school — deaths I could not prevent and could not bear. To cope with the aching helplessness, I developed a private...
Writing Prompt: Design the future of the internet! Participate in our next essay collection and print pamphlet.
2nd Jan 2026
2

Writing Prompt: Design the future of the internet!

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jan 2026
Participate in our next essay collection and print pamphlet.
Upgrade your job So, apparently I send a lot of email about people trying to get cool jobs. Here’s yet another email...
30th Oct 2015
21

Upgrade your job

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Oct 2015
So, apparently I send a lot of email about people trying to get cool jobs. Here’s yet another email I sent to a friend, recorded here.  Hi [redacted], First I want to highlight is that flexible/remote jobs are just like normal jobs, but more people want them, so the companies...
'But to Divert a Fierce Banditti' The English poet William Cowper (1731-1800) suffered his first attack of mental illness – today we...
1st Dec 2025
1

'But to Divert a Fierce Banditti'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Dec 2025
The English poet William Cowper (1731-1800) suffered his first attack of mental illness – today we would likely call it profound depression – at age thirty-two. Before then, while studying law in the Temple, Cowper dined every Thursday with friends at the Nonsense Club. He and a...
3rd Mar 2025
52

Open Thread 371

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Mar 2025
...
some thoughts on siegfried a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
3rd Jan 2025
1

some thoughts on siegfried

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jan 2025
a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
Let Me Fix [some of] Your Parking Problems Hi there! I’m Josh, and I’m your local neighborhood advocate for overlooked spaces. Today, we’ll be...
14th Jul 2023
23

Let Me Fix [some of] Your Parking Problems

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Jul 2023
Hi there! I’m Josh, and I’m your local neighborhood advocate for overlooked spaces. Today, we’ll be focusing on parking lots. Your parking lot has a job to do, and every day, every night, rain or shine, hot or cold, clear, rainy, or snowy, your parking lot does the best it can at...
Change The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that. Sometimes change is for...
30th Jun 2014
23

Change

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Jun 2014
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that. Sometimes change is for the better, and sometimes its for the worse. I don’t know if there’s always a difference. Recently, Kristi and I have seen lots of change; I’d say its for the better, but it’s not...
✏️ Now Reopen for Business California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it...
17th Jun 2021
20

✏️ Now Reopen for Business

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

17th Jun 2021
California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it has. The streets are busy again, clear voices can be heard all over, and people are emerging from their cocoons at their pace. It feels like whiplash: going from riding with one...
An essay in which my friend feels stuck and I suggest relaxing some constraints The short version is that my friend, in my opinion, thinks about what he wants in a too constrained...
5th Mar 2025
52

An essay in which my friend feels stuck and I suggest relaxing some constraints

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Mar 2025
The short version is that my friend, in my opinion, thinks about what he wants in a too constrained way.
Reading, forgetting When John Updike read À la recherche du temps perdu after having read Scott-Moncrieff's translation,...
10th Sep 2025
1

Reading, forgetting

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Sep 2025
When John Updike read À la recherche du temps perdu after having read Scott-Moncrieff's translation, he was surprised to find Proust less Proustian, the epithet we associate with flowery prose blossoming over prodigious sentences proliferating clause within clause. While I cannot...
the dark frisson of knowledge on the Wikipedian sublime
12th Jul 2025
1

the dark frisson of knowledge

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Jul 2025
on the Wikipedian sublime
Lorena Diosdado Multifaceted Latinx identities The post Lorena Diosdado appeared first on The American Scholar.
5th May 2025
32

Lorena Diosdado

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th May 2025
Multifaceted Latinx identities The post Lorena Diosdado appeared first on The American Scholar.
A fundamental deprivation: Montevideo by Enrique Vila-Matas Perhaps all novels seek to converge on a single point.  The thought occurred to me as I read...
16th Apr 2026
1

A fundamental deprivation: Montevideo by Enrique Vila-Matas

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Apr 2026
Perhaps all novels seek to converge on a single point.  The thought occurred to me as I read Vila-Matas' Montevideo, translated by Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott. A random thought, apparently, but also the kind of thought provoked by the passion of observation, anecdote and...
Hold the Salt Reconsidering an ancient city's bad reputation The post Hold the Salt appeared first on The American...
1st Dec 2025
2

Hold the Salt

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Dec 2025
Reconsidering an ancient city's bad reputation The post Hold the Salt appeared first on The American Scholar.
Modality Switching Online I hate it when my dad leaves me a voicemail. Whenever I open my phone and see the pending voicemail,...
8th Jun 2024
26

Modality Switching Online

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Jun 2024
I hate it when my dad leaves me a voicemail. Whenever I open my phone and see the pending voicemail, I roll my eyes. He tends to meander. My dad’s messages can range from 40 seconds to 2 minutes. He typically wants to inform me of something, like an upcoming family event or an...
'Either Very Gravely Gay or Very Gaily Grave' “Lend me—lend me some disguise; / I will tell prodigious lies; / All who care for what I say /...
1st Apr 2026
1

'Either Very Gravely Gay or Very Gaily Grave'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2026
“Lend me—lend me some disguise; / I will tell prodigious lies; / All who care for what I say / Shall be April Fools to-day!”  This sounds like our understanding of April Fools’ Day as kids. Low-cost, nothing elaborate, just walk up behind a guy and scream “Your pants are on...
✏️ Liquid Gold Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular...
10th Sep 2023
17

✏️ Liquid Gold

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Sep 2023
Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular travel and exploring the American West. This is season 2, en route from San Francisco to St. Louis. Our primary reason is to visit Jen’s family and attend a wedding. Our secondary...
Book Review - Owning Your Own Shadow The shadow of the human psyche cannot be overlooked in a thorough exploration of personal...
16th Jan 2020
26

Book Review - Owning Your Own Shadow

from Blog - Anchorpointexpeditions.com [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Jan 2020
The shadow of the human psyche cannot be overlooked in a thorough exploration of personal development. According to the classic resource Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche, “The shadow is that which has not entered adequately into...
✏️ Borrego Boogie Almost a year ago, Jen and I headed south to Bishop, then a run through Death Valley, an obnoxiously...
8th Mar 2023
17

✏️ Borrego Boogie

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Mar 2023
Almost a year ago, Jen and I headed south to Bishop, then a run through Death Valley, an obnoxiously windy night in Alabama Hills, and then reset in San Diego before a good run and a few nights in Anza-Borrego desert. It's remarkable that a place this wild and surprisingly...
Socratic dialogue with kids I’m simply trying to understand how she thinks. When she answers in a way that does not match my...
7th Dec 2023
42

Socratic dialogue with kids

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Dec 2023
I’m simply trying to understand how she thinks. When she answers in a way that does not match my understanding—that is interesting to me.
New Martian Writing If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new...
26th Mar 2026
1

New Martian Writing

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Mar 2026
If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new substack newsletter, titled 'Mars for the Rest of Us', where I've been posting weekly essays on topics around Mars exploration. Here are two recent free posts: Musk on Mars: a...
Effective Political Giving With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically...
3rd Sep 2020
19

Effective Political Giving

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Sep 2020
With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically panicked. You're anxious, you feel the need to do something, and you have a little money to spare. Who should you give it to? My goal here is not to sell you on specific candidates...
On Rdio Rdio comes out of beta, and what a glorious service it is. Music is a huge part of many people’s...
8th Jun 2010
1

On Rdio

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Jun 2010
Rdio comes out of beta, and what a glorious service it is. Music is a huge part of many people’s lives. It seems odd that music is essentially sounds and noises put together to form something that transcends its individual parts. Music, even in its simplest form is a whole, made...
Trader Joe's Parking Lot Hey Trader Joe’s, This is a bit of an open letter, inspired by a recent visit to the local Trader...
13th Dec 2023
21

Trader Joe's Parking Lot

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

13th Dec 2023
Hey Trader Joe’s, This is a bit of an open letter, inspired by a recent visit to the local Trader Joe’s. I just moved to this part of Denver, and now for the first time am living within like a 3 minute scoot of a Trader Joe’s. I know that some people like to complain about...
[RIDGELINE] The Walk and Talk, Nagano Kiso-ji Ridgeline subscribers — I’ll die on my dumb hill, the one where I say: the best time to visit and...
17th Dec 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] The Walk and Talk, Nagano Kiso-ji

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

17th Dec 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — I’ll die on my dumb hill, the one where I say: the best time to visit and walk (most) of Japan is the end of November and the start of December. I think a lot of folks have a kind of North Eastern American mentality, where by the time December hits New...
Thomas Heywood's early melodrama A Woman Killed by Kindness - I’ll say you wept, I’ll swear you made... I have called Thomas Dekker and Henry Chettle hacks, but Thomas Heywood was the greatest hack of the...
2nd May 2026
1
2nd May 2026
I have called Thomas Dekker and Henry Chettle hacks, but Thomas Heywood was the greatest hack of the Age of Shakespeare, having “an entire hand or at least the main finger” in “two hundred and twenty” (!) plays (Three Elizabethan Domestic Tragedies, p. 38).  He is more like a...
[RIDGELINE] Driving the Tōkaidō Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from amidst the Toyama rush of media requests. I’ve had to say no to...
16th Jan 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] Driving the Tōkaidō

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Jan 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from amidst the Toyama rush of media requests. I’ve had to say no to most of them, mainly because I’ve been finishing the final final final final set of edits on the Random House edition of Things Become Other Thing. Those edits are in. The book can...
Even Christopher Nolan prefers 70mm film With all the technology in the world, sometimes the more beautiful thing is less of it.
4th Aug 2026
1

Even Christopher Nolan prefers 70mm film

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Aug 2026
With all the technology in the world, sometimes the more beautiful thing is less of it.
1st Jun 2025
Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing Nothing magnifies life — in the proper sense of the word, rooted in the Latin for “to make greater,...
4th Jan 2025
91

Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Jan 2025
Nothing magnifies life — in the proper sense of the word, rooted in the Latin for “to make greater, to glorify” — more than the act of noticing its details, and nothing sanctifies it more: Kneeling to look at a lichen is a devotional act. We bless our own lives by recognizing and...
Aggregate and deduplicate your deprecation warnings in Rails We know we all stay on the cutting edge of Rails; no one, and I mean no one out there is making a...
3rd Oct 2019
22

Aggregate and deduplicate your deprecation warnings in Rails

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Oct 2019
We know we all stay on the cutting edge of Rails; no one, and I mean no one out there is making a 4.2 -> 5.2 upgrade because Rails 4.2 is no longer supported. You, dear reader, have just suddenly found an interest in resolving deprecation warnings, and as one jumps a few Rails...
Are Democrats too liberal? Or too conservative? We're asking the wrong questions.
3rd Dec 2024
68

Are Democrats too liberal? Or too conservative?

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Dec 2024
We're asking the wrong questions.
✏️ Music That Got Me Through 2020 As time goes on, I've learned something about myself: I'm now that person — that old fogey — that...
1st Feb 2021
17

✏️ Music That Got Me Through 2020

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2021
As time goes on, I've learned something about myself: I'm now that person — that old fogey — that mumbles under their breath about the old days when music was real. That said, there are plenty of good artists (even great artists) making meaningful music today. I just have to...
Your visions for the next Renaissance From our May writing prompt.
1st Aug 2024
85

Your visions for the next Renaissance

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Aug 2024
From our May writing prompt.
1st May 2022
On Returning The post On Returning appeared first on The American Scholar.
3 weeks ago
1

On Returning

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

3 weeks ago
The post On Returning appeared first on The American Scholar.
the hairshirt doldrums on having a brain injury
6th Mar 2025
1

the hairshirt doldrums

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Mar 2025
on having a brain injury
Playing with the HTTP send/response cycle in Ruby, without Faraday ("HTTP Yeah You Know Me" project) As part of the HTTP Server project. First, I’m working through Practicing Ruby’s “Implementing an...
7th Apr 2017
35
7th Apr 2017
As part of the HTTP Server project. First, I’m working through Practicing Ruby’s “Implementing an HTTP File Server” for general practice and understanding. I’m going to use Postman to capture traffic and try to replicate some of the things the guides reference. Lastly, I just...
June trip to the New River Gorge The New River Gorge had beautiful weather this weekend. The forecast for the weekend was, until...
3rd Jul 2013
20

June trip to the New River Gorge

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jul 2013
The New River Gorge had beautiful weather this weekend. The forecast for the weekend was, until Friday, near-certain thunderstorms. Typical of the New, the weather proved unpredictable, and we had glorious sun the entire trip. I was eager to get out to the New, since my last...
The Souls of Animals “They do not sweat and whine about their condition,” Walt Whitman wrote of the other animals, “they...
1st Mar 2025
60

The Souls of Animals

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Mar 2025
“They do not sweat and whine about their condition,” Walt Whitman wrote of the other animals, “they do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, they do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning...
Sara Huddleston on the Latino Vote in Iowa Last week I spoke with Sara Huddleston, candidate for Iowa state house in district 11 (Storm Lake)....
8th Aug 2020
18

Sara Huddleston on the Latino Vote in Iowa

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Aug 2020
Last week I spoke with Sara Huddleston, candidate for Iowa state house in district 11 (Storm Lake). A longtime community organizer and three-term city council member, she was the first Latina elected to a city council in the state of Iowa, and would be the first Latina to serve...
People are too big to fit inside our heads Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
2nd Jun 2026
2

People are too big to fit inside our heads

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jun 2026
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
The crisis of narration and the future of the novel, part two Byung-Chul Han says in The Crisis of Narration that modernity "is animated by a belief in progress"...
6th Nov 2025
1

The crisis of narration and the future of the novel, part two

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Nov 2025
Byung-Chul Han says in The Crisis of Narration that modernity "is animated by a belief in progress" and its narratives "radiate an aura because the future is a phenomenon of distance". This is evident in our reverence for the monuments of modernism, a reverence formed by wonder...
An Open Letter about Golden 2022-06-15 Update I wrote this document the first time in a very small number of minutes, three...
24th May 2022
19

An Open Letter about Golden

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th May 2022
2022-06-15 Update I wrote this document the first time in a very small number of minutes, three weeks ago, on my way out the door on a particularly busy day. I follow “write it now”. I’ve gotten to discuss this letter with a few different people, because I mentioned it in email....
At the Bookstore I work hard to resist sentimental impulses and indulgence in nostalgia. Ours is a sentimental age,...
1st Sep 2025
28

At the Bookstore

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Sep 2025
I work hard to resist sentimental impulses and indulgence in nostalgia. Ours is a sentimental age, and at the same time an angry, unforgiving age. One strain of sentimentality especially prevalent among the aging is a rueful, self-pitying lament for what no longer exists....
A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept The following is recounted on  Quora, from a lecture by Stanford professor John Ousterhout (he’s in...
26th Jun 2015
22

A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Jun 2015
The following is recounted on  Quora, from a lecture by Stanford professor John Ousterhout (he’s in the Computer Science department): Here’s today’s thought for the weekend.  A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of Y-intercept.   [Laughter] So at a mathematical level this is...
Care doesn't scale Care Doesn’t Scale I met a social worker whose job was to look after four orphaned children. She’d...
24th Oct 2024
46

Care doesn't scale

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Oct 2024
Care Doesn’t Scale I met a social worker whose job was to look after four orphaned children. She’d alternate with her coworkers spending 24 hours at a time living with the kids, effectively acting as their parent. The children, unsurprisingly, had a lot of trauma and so her job...
[RIDGELINE] Other Thing, Walking Yamaguchi Ridgeline subscribers — Hello! I’m Craig, and this is Ridgeline, and last time I wrote to you (a...
20th Mar 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] Other Thing, Walking Yamaguchi

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Mar 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello! I’m Craig, and this is Ridgeline, and last time I wrote to you (a month ago), I wrote about garbage. These last few months have been packed to the max, so I just wanted to update you on some recent walk-related activities (I’ll be sending a bigger,...
Blood Knowledge by Kirsty Gunn "A novel is a kind of lazy way of writing a short story, a short story a lazy way of writing a poem"...
29th Nov 2024
1

Blood Knowledge by Kirsty Gunn

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

29th Nov 2024
"A novel is a kind of lazy way of writing a short story, a short story a lazy way of writing a poem" said Muriel Spark, adding by explanation: "The longer they become, the more they seem to lose value". We might wonder then if the most value is to be found in the shortest novels,...
Every country ranked from best to worst A report card for the whole world.
2nd Sep 2025
37

Every country ranked from best to worst

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Sep 2025
A report card for the whole world.
🔗 Eva Decker Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC...
6th Aug 2024
20

🔗 Eva Decker

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Aug 2024
Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC with Samwise. — Eva Decker Visit original link → or View on nazhamid.com →
'Leaves Must Be Green in Spring' The Battle of Malvern Hill was fought near Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy, on July 1,...
1st Jul 2026
1

'Leaves Must Be Green in Spring'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2026
The Battle of Malvern Hill was fought near Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy, on July 1, 1862. Not as well remembered as Antietam or Gettysburg, it was the last of the Seven Days Battles in the Peninsula Campaign, and prompted Confederate General Daniel H. Hill to...
Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction In Part 1, I examined a few common tropes in...
6th Jun 2024
27

Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Jun 2024
Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction In Part 1, I examined a few common tropes in stories and suggested that some stories might explore certain questions not because those questions are interesting, but because engaging with those questions allows the story to...
Inside Man A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite The post Inside Man appeared first on The...
1st Jun 2026
1

Inside Man

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jun 2026
A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite The post Inside Man appeared first on The American Scholar.
Trust and Procedural Fetishism I recently finished reading Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book explains the...
14th Jun 2025
1

Trust and Procedural Fetishism

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Jun 2025
I recently finished reading Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book explains the various missteps taken by the U.S. government that led us to where we are today: a bureaucratic sludge of policies and regulations that’s caused ambitious projects to go over budget...
✏️ Boy Meets Girl At the request of my much loyal readership (I’m looking at you Lacey), the story of how I came to be...
26th Oct 2004
17

✏️ Boy Meets Girl

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Oct 2004
At the request of my much loyal readership (I’m looking at you Lacey), the story of how I came to be with girl seems to be of interest. I know, I know. I disappear for a bit from writing and then I return smitten, enamoured and very much exploring a journey I’m quite glad to be...
Relational Antipatterns Introduction This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small...
12th May 2025
1

Relational Antipatterns

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th May 2025
Introduction This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small notebook I carry with me most of the time. Eventually, I was jotting down notes for both this this particular list and the list on the piece on sadness and grief, and there is...
Fred Roger's Method For Writing Scripts Someone said: People think this is silly, but read about Fred rogers’ method for writing a script...
30th Sep 2020
28

Fred Roger's Method For Writing Scripts

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Sep 2020
Someone said: People think this is silly, but read about Fred rogers’ method for writing a script for his show. The rules aren’t fully applicable to presentations, but the attention to detail and to the Interpretation of the audience is. Don’t use any words carelessly. I...
The Weeks Percolating on design At the end of every year I start to feel it. 2024 ended on a tumultuous note....
7th Nov 2025
1

The Weeks

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Nov 2025
Percolating on design At the end of every year I start to feel it. 2024 ended on a tumultuous note. I dive into introspection, combing over the last year in search of pattern and meaning. I gathered what I found at the bottom of the ocean floor, coming up for air with the...
Ralph Roister Doister, among the first regular English comedies - Then to our recorder with... Ralph Roister Doister (written c. 1550, published 1567) once had the distinction of being the first...
2nd Sep 2025
1
2nd Sep 2025
Ralph Roister Doister (written c. 1550, published 1567) once had the distinction of being the first comedy in English.  Please see this 1911 edition of the play calling it “the first regular English comedy.”  I do not know what 19th century critics meant by “regular” but this...
Risk-takers decide faster Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
5th Nov 2024
44

Risk-takers decide faster

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Nov 2024
Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
Designing for support teams Support agents spend their entire lives using the same software. Their needs are very different from...
5th Feb 2024
23

Designing for support teams

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Feb 2024
Support agents spend their entire lives using the same software. Their needs are very different from consumer software. Here are some things to keep in mind.
Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort ‘Small Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at Caribbean...
8th Aug 2024
39

Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Aug 2024
‘Small Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at Caribbean Resort Gabriel Martinez, a 35-year-old confectioner living in the Cayman Islands, thought he was posting a simple promotional photo when he snapped a picture of his ‘cocoa-banana-surprise’ and...
Limitations of My Own Thinking I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”....
5th Nov 2015
21

Limitations of My Own Thinking

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Nov 2015
I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”. Anytime this happens, I start tripping over myself with warnings and qualifying statements. Here’s what would happen: I would make a recommendation (“start a side project to help get a...
'To Mold Clay, Fashion Men From It' Certain writers lay claim to a piece of geography. Think of Cavafy’s Alexandria and William...
1st Jun 2026
1

'To Mold Clay, Fashion Men From It'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jun 2026
Certain writers lay claim to a piece of geography. Think of Cavafy’s Alexandria and William Kennedy’s Albany. Outsiders may visit but the deed is ironclad. When I hear something in the news about the Caucasus, that often-contested band of mountains between the Black Sea and the...
Payments vs Transfers Transfer means to move money but payment means "exchanging goods or services". A payment system has...
4th Feb 2023
40

Payments vs Transfers

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Feb 2023
Transfer means to move money but payment means "exchanging goods or services". A payment system has a lot more requirements than a transfer system and I rarely see the crypto ecosystem acknowledge these when building "payment" products.
✏️ Road to Mesa Good morning, light. I awoke early this morning, perched on a mesa cliff-side, surrounded by low...
18th Jul 2022
21

✏️ Road to Mesa

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Jul 2022
Good morning, light. I awoke early this morning, perched on a mesa cliff-side, surrounded by low foliage, cow patties galore, and a few skeletons and carcasses of younger cattle that couldn’t survive the path of migration that was next to our camp. Everyone else was still mildly...
'Superintending What He Cannot Regulate' In my family we can’t get away from the “Y” chromosome. Having children is known as “going to the...
1st Jul 2025
29

'Superintending What He Cannot Regulate'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2025
In my family we can’t get away from the “Y” chromosome. Having children is known as “going to the Y.” I have three sons, no daughters, and my brother, who died last summer, was my sole sibling. My mother had five brothers, no sisters. My father, two brothers, no sisters, etc....
"A delicate mix of chess... and bear wrestling" Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself needing to break down “why” of sport climbing (I’ll refer...
2nd Nov 2014
20

"A delicate mix of chess... and bear wrestling"

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Nov 2014
Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself needing to break down “why” of sport climbing (I’ll refer to sport as “lead” climbing from here on out. Sorry, trad climbers). If someone is enjoying top roping, (or bouldering) why should they take on the work of learning to lead climb,...
William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships "Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
2nd Jun 2023
107

William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jun 2023
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
Most of Life The post Most of Life appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Apr 2026
1

Most of Life

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2026
The post Most of Life appeared first on The American Scholar.
'Give Thanks for All Things' “It is the province of poems to make some order in the world, but poets can’t afford to forget...
1st Mar 2026
1

'Give Thanks for All Things'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Mar 2026
“It is the province of poems to make some order in the world, but poets can’t afford to forget that there is a reality of things which survives all orders great and small. Things are. The cow is there. No poetry can have any strength unless it continually bashes itself against...
✏️ Notes at 46 Thoughts, observations, and new ways of approaching life that have been percolating since my last...
8th Apr 2024
18

✏️ Notes at 46

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Apr 2024
Thoughts, observations, and new ways of approaching life that have been percolating since my last birthday: Owning a personal digital space is more important than ever before. Having come to the internet during a time when all it was were personal fan sites and journals, and the...
fear of breakdown a psychopolitical theory
11th May 2026
2

fear of breakdown

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th May 2026
a psychopolitical theory
Fade to Blue Redesigning as a method of interrogation. Okay, okay, okay. I did it again. Sometimes you design a...
24th Jun 2026
1

Fade to Blue

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Jun 2026
Redesigning as a method of interrogation. Okay, okay, okay. I did it again. Sometimes you design a thing, or redesign it, or evolve it, and you think you're there. But this unsettling feeling sinks in, and you think: “I’m not happy with this. What’s the problem?” Friggin'...
SF Zine Fest 2026 The antithesis of slop. It's been a few years since I'd attended the SF Zine Fest. Friend Scott Boms...
2 weeks ago
1

SF Zine Fest 2026

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

2 weeks ago
The antithesis of slop. It's been a few years since I'd attended the SF Zine Fest. Friend Scott Boms had a table with his Matter Editions wares, and it's a 10-minute walk from home, so Jen and I had to go. Held at The Hibernia, it was a treat to actually go into this historic...
[RIDGELINE] Talking While Walking the Camino Francés in Spain Ridgeline subscribers — Heeeeeeellllloooooooo to the many many many many new subscribers who came...
14th Apr 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] Talking While Walking the Camino Francés in Spain

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — Heeeeeeellllloooooooo to the many many many many new subscribers who came from the Tim Pod(s). Welcome. I’m Craig, and this is Ridgeline (my newsletter focused on walking (Roden, the other newsletter is more general)), which is supposed to be a weekly...
🔗 What price? If anything, as the well gets poisoned by their own outputs, large language models may well end up...
6th Oct 2024
21

🔗 What price?

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Oct 2024
If anything, as the well gets poisoned by their own outputs, large language models may well end up eating their own slop and getting their own version of mad cow disease. So this might be as good as they’re ever going to get. — Jeremy Keith I use AI. Not particularly for...
Left on the Shelf My old and very good friend Mark Thwaite has taken over at the Left on the Shelf bookshop, so if...
7th Feb 2026
1

Left on the Shelf

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Feb 2026
My old and very good friend Mark Thwaite has taken over at the Left on the Shelf bookshop, so if you're at all interested in any of the subjects listed in the poster below, please consider subscribing to his newsletter, checking out the listings on Abebooks, and the offers on...
Imagination vs. Creativity I like to make a distinction between imagination and creativity that you may or may not agree with....
14th Jul 2024
45

Imagination vs. Creativity

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Jul 2024
I like to make a distinction between imagination and creativity that you may or may not agree with. Imagination is the ability to see known possibilities as being reachable from a situation. Creativity is the ability to manufacture new possibilities out of a situation. The two...
Une vie sans notifications Une vie sans notifications Переведено на русский Wandering Thinker Avertissement : Cet article...
2nd Sep 2025
1

Une vie sans notifications

from Ploum.net [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Sep 2025
Une vie sans notifications Переведено на русский Wandering Thinker Avertissement : Cet article parle de mon expérience avec le Mudita Kompakt, mais, n’étant pas lié à cette firme, je ne répondrai à aucune question concernant cet appareil ni le Hisense A5. Tout ce que j’ai à dire...
High Variance Management How should you manage a team that is trying to achieve results out of the ordinary?
18th Jan 2023
27

High Variance Management

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Jan 2023
How should you manage a team that is trying to achieve results out of the ordinary?
On Not Consuming Animals Or Viewing Them As Exploitable This is such a draft, but I wanted to get it written so I could point to this big compendium of...
3rd Aug 2026
1

On Not Consuming Animals Or Viewing Them As Exploitable

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Aug 2026
This is such a draft, but I wanted to get it written so I could point to this big compendium of things related to “now I eat/consume plants and not animals”, or “i went vegan recently, here’s some observations”. I ‘went vegan’ a few months ago, as of when I began drafting this...
The Mind in the Machine: John von Neumann, the Inception of AI, and the Limits of Logic "Something very small, so tiny and insignificant as to be almost invisible in its origin, can...
2nd Dec 2023
37
2nd Dec 2023
"Something very small, so tiny and insignificant as to be almost invisible in its origin, can nonetheless open up a new and radiant perspective, because through it a higher order of being is trying to express itself."
[RODEN] Summer Heatray Days Roden Readers — Hello from the swelterdome, the Cape O‘ Temperature Oppression, a.k.a. the Kanto...
1st Aug 2025
1

[RODEN] Summer Heatray Days

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Aug 2025
Roden Readers — Hello from the swelterdome, the Cape O‘ Temperature Oppression, a.k.a. the Kanto area of Japan in July / August. It is so spectacularly, consistently hot that it’s hard to overstate just how bananas this heat is, how all consumingly present and manic it feels....
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