Josh Thompson
2023 Annual Review
It’s that time of the year. I often enjoy reading other people’s annual reviews, and I’ve always...
27th Jan 2024
It’s that time of the year. I often enjoy reading other people’s annual reviews, and I’ve always found value in writing my own, even as there is a few years I’ve missed, since I started the habit way back in 2015.
for a long time, I did annual reviews. 2020 was late, and then for...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Music is Memory
Stone Temple Pilots’ “Kitchenware & Candybars” comes on, and suddenly I'm 17 again, driving...
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...
ben-mini
IMG_0416
Between 2009 and 2012, Apple iPhones and iPod Touches included a feature called “Send to YouTube”...
3rd Nov 2024
Between 2009 and 2012, Apple iPhones and iPod Touches included a feature called “Send to YouTube” that allowed users to upload videos directly to YouTube from the Photos app.
The feature worked… really well. In fact, YouTube reported a 1700% increase in total video uploads...
Josh Thompson
Taiwanese & Balinese Scooter Norms
Sometimes I’ve told people “I ride with Asian scooter norms.” or “I ride with Taiwanese and Balinese...
14th Aug 2025
Sometimes I’ve told people “I ride with Asian scooter norms.” or “I ride with Taiwanese and Balinese scooter norms”. Here’s what I mean by this statement.
a ‘norm’ is ‘something common, accepted, sometimes codified in law, but certainly accepted as ‘right’ or ‘acceptable’ or...
The Perry Bible...
Big Fish
The post Big Fish appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
3rd Jul 2026
The post Big Fish appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Escaping Flatland
How I write essays
Notes on process
4th Dec 2024
Ben Borgers
Winter break project list
19th Dec 2023
Josh Thompson
On Money (again)
Recently I posted
thoughts about money I’d written from back in 2013.
Money is hard to write about,...
18th Feb 2016
Recently I posted
thoughts about money I’d written from back in 2013.
Money is hard to write about, because there are many different ways we can approach it. It’s easy to feel judged when someone does something with their money that I don’t do with mine.
That all said, there...
The Perry Bible...
Artist
The post Artist appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
21st Jan 2026
The post Artist appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Escaping Flatland
Some relationships deepen when you tell the truth and some end
I asked people to send me stories about situations where they had done what felt right to them, even...
11th Mar 2026
I asked people to send me stories about situations where they had done what felt right to them, even though they feared social pushback.
The Marginalian
The Cosmogony of You
We live in a state of perpetual dissociation from the almost unbearable wonder of being alive....
1st Dec 2024
We live in a state of perpetual dissociation from the almost unbearable wonder of being alive. Wonder is always an edge state, its edge so sharp it threatens to rupture the mundane and sever us from what we mistake for reality — the TV, the townhouse, the trauma narrative. If we...
The Marginalian
The Moon and the Yew Tree: Patti Smith Reads Sylvia Plath’s Haunting Portrait of Depression
"This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary."
4th Sep 2023
"This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary."
Josh Thompson
Why Your Belayer is Keeping You from Climbing Hard(er)
Since climbing regularly again (!!!), I’ve observed lots of belaying in the gym. I can’t walk up to...
1st Oct 2014
Since climbing regularly again (!!!), I’ve observed lots of belaying in the gym. I can’t walk up to a stranger and say “Excuse me, sir, I noticed that your poor belaying is totally crippling your climber’s ability to try hard, and actively eliminating any hope you had of...
Escaping Flatland
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
The short version is that my friend, in my opinion, thinks about what he wants in a too constrained way.
Josh Thompson
Accomplishments and Achievements
We’re encouraged to accomplish and achieve, yes? From birth, we pass milestones. Generally these...
2nd Jul 2014
We’re encouraged to accomplish and achieve, yes? From birth, we pass milestones. Generally these milestones grow in complexity as we add to our abilities - it’s been a while since I’ve been rewarded for not wetting myself - but they are usually on par with our abilities.
For...
Josh Thompson
How to complete a project
Most of us have goals. And we usually don’t reach any of them.
The
Minimum Viable Product “concept”...
1st Jan 2014
Most of us have goals. And we usually don’t reach any of them.
The
Minimum Viable Product “concept” has helped me with some goals, and it could be helpful to you.
It’s a simple concept: When starting something new, figure out what the minimum investment would get you the...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 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
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Ploum.net
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Comme le souligne Ed Zitron, toute la bulle actuelle est basée sur 7 ou...
1st Nov 2025
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Comme le souligne Ed Zitron, toute la bulle actuelle est basée sur 7 ou 8 entreprises qui s’échangent des promesses de s’échanger des milliards d’euros lorsque tous les habitants de la planète dépenseront en moyenne 100€ par mois pour utiliser ChatGPT....
The Marginalian
William James on Love
"If it comes, it comes; if it does not come, no process of reasoning can force it. Yet it transforms...
3rd Apr 2024
"If it comes, it comes; if it does not come, no process of reasoning can force it. Yet it transforms the value of the creature loved."
Josh Thompson
Planned Unit Design Document (work-in-progress)
This is a draft document, meant for circulation, will evolve with time and eventually be something...
1st Oct 2021
This is a draft document, meant for circulation, will evolve with time and eventually be something we bring to the City of Golden for ratification, or whatever needs to happen to get this done in this zone. This document relates to Collateralizing Mortgages and Loans With the...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Midlife Malaise
The past few days have felt heavy. In a weird headspace, floating in the middle of space between a...
8th Jun 2023
The past few days have felt heavy. In a weird headspace, floating in the middle of space between a destination or goal, or rather, a state I aspire to, but seeing a road ahead of which the length is unknown.
It feels like a lot of things have been taken, removed, or no longer...
sbensu
APIs as ladders
APIs are hard to learn. If you think about the learning curve of your API, you can design one that...
24th Jan 2022
APIs are hard to learn. If you think about the learning curve of your API, you can design one that works for beginners, novices, and experts.
Escaping Flatland
A list of books and essays that I love
I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about...
4th Nov 2025
I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about so much that they immediately occur to me.
The Elysian
Hackathon: Let's build a profit-sharing platform for writers
Creatives and developers—join us this Friday!
1st Oct 2025
Creatives and developers—join us this Friday!
Josh Thompson
About Roundabouts
I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for...
5th Mar 2022
I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for more. I’m spending only a few minutes on this, forgive my errors.
Of late, I’ve had a lot of conversations about roundabouts. I’m basically trying to explain the ways that a mobility...
ben-mini
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
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...
Ploum.net
Ne venez pas dire que vous n’étiez pas prévenus…
Ne venez pas dire que vous n’étiez pas prévenus…
…c’est juste que vous pensiez ne pas être...
20th Jan 2025
Ne venez pas dire que vous n’étiez pas prévenus…
…c’est juste que vous pensiez ne pas être concernés
Depuis des décennies, je fais partie de ces gens qui tentent d’alerter sur les terrifiantes possibilités qu’offre l’aveuglement technologique dans lequel nous sommes plongés.
Je...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Mirrored Malaysia
After almost three years apart due to the pandemic, we were heartwarmingly reunited with my family...
14th Sep 2022
After almost three years apart due to the pandemic, we were heartwarmingly reunited with my family in August of 2022. It was an intense and dense ten days, spending almost all waking hours together: talking, eating, and watching the time go by as fast as it would arrive. I...
Josh Thompson
Anarchy (or, less provocatively, Mutuality and Co-Creation)
In 2017, I read The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the...
3rd May 2024
In 2017, I read The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey; everything and nothing changed.
Lots changed because all of I sudden, I could clearly label a dynamic that had always irked me. I could see that some people would avoid...
Josh Thompson
Avoid a car accident with a $3 tool
TL;DR: Buy a
blind spot mirror for your car. They are $2, and can keep you from getting in an...
4th Jul 2016
TL;DR: Buy a
blind spot mirror for your car. They are $2, and can keep you from getting in an accident. Not a lot of people have them, though they’re awesome.
I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about how to make driving safer.
Step 1 to making driving safer is “don’t...
Idle Words
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
On agency
Or, how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and handle it effectively, and authentically, and...
7th Jul 2025
Or, how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and handle it effectively, and authentically, and responsibly
The Perry Bible...
Bubbled
The post Bubbled appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
1st Mar 2025
The post Bubbled appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Josh Thompson
Growing in your first software development job
I started my first software developer role a year ago. (November 2017)
This is tremendously...
28th Nov 2018
I started my first software developer role a year ago. (November 2017)
This is tremendously exciting, of course, but introduces its own set of challenges, like:
I finished Turing and I’ve got a job! Oh snap. I just finished a grueling program, and my reward is I’m fit to sit at...
Ben Borgers
Parking Tickets Wrapped 2024
7th Jan 2025
The Elysian
Are Democrats too liberal? Or too conservative?
We're asking the wrong questions.
3rd Dec 2024
We're asking the wrong questions.
Salish Wolf
#50 Jake Roussos on Play, Smiling, and Empowering Children
Jake Roussos is on a mission to help people live their best lives by living
his best. Early on he...
5th Oct 2023
Jake Roussos is on a mission to help people live their best lives by living
his best. Early on he found a powerful tool that was available to him
wherever he went and in any interaction: his smile. Since then, he has been
positively impacting others through the simple...
The Marginalian
God, Human, Animal, Machine: Consciousness and Our Search for Meaning in the Age of Artificial...
An inquiry into the eternal enchantment of why the world exists.
2nd Mar 2023
An inquiry into the eternal enchantment of why the world exists.
Ben Borgers
Winter break project list [2024]
21st Dec 2024
Ben Borgers
New in Superadmin: styling, images, rich text
23rd Nov 2022
Anecdotal Evidence
'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
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...
Josh Thompson
Relational Antipatterns
Introduction
This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small...
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...
Escaping Flatland
Days are enormous
+ personal update and reading recommendations
1st Apr 2026
+ personal update and reading recommendations
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Do you miss Twitter?
Twitter remained fun for a bit after that, but it became harder to ignore that there was a dark...
3rd Jun 2024
Twitter remained fun for a bit after that, but it became harder to ignore that there was a dark cloud emerging. And that for people that didn’t look like me, that cloud might’ve always been there.
— Mike Monteiro
Visit original link → or View on nazhamid.com →
Astral Codex Ten
Chip Off The Old Block
...
1st Jul 2026
Ploum.net
How I fought my smartphone addiction
How I fought my smartphone addiction
In a poignant Gemini post, Kevin Boone wrote about his anxiety...
13th Mar 2026
How I fought my smartphone addiction
In a poignant Gemini post, Kevin Boone wrote about his anxiety to go out of his house without his phone. (This is the Gemini protocol, totally unrelated to the Google chatbot.)
Phone anxiety (larsthebear.me)
Web version of the former
Around...
Blog -...
Book Review - Iron John
Iron John by Robert Bly is a classic book about men. It has legions of
ardent fans, but I...
15th Dec 2019
Iron John by Robert Bly is a classic book about men. It has legions of
ardent fans, but I reluctantly admit I am not one of the more zealous.
Although the book has high points – the classic story of Iron John as put
down by the Grimm brothers stands out to me, as well as an...
the late review
bride and sister, be to your brother
sentimental incest in Die Walküre
3rd Apr 2025
sentimental incest in Die Walküre
The Marginalian
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
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
ben-mini
The Inner Game of Tennis
I just finished reading The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey. Originally published in 1974, the...
12th Oct 2024
I just finished reading The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey. Originally published in 1974, the book explores how the thoughts of an athlete affect their game. It’s lauded as being at the forefront of what we now call “sports psychology”. Although my competitive sports days...
Escaping Flatland
People are too big to fit inside our heads
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
2nd Jun 2026
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Full Days and the Long Walk
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from the other side of my ~220 kilometer walk through the Kiso...
27th Oct 2025
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from the other side of my ~220 kilometer walk through the Kiso Valley.
I sent a shorter version of this newsletter as the last issue of the (the entire walk is) Between Two Mountains pop-up newsletter. This version is quite expanded. The archives of...
Wuthering...
What I Read in February 2026 – Mouek mouek mouek… Ma-a-a-a… Ma-aa-a… said Saha
I am almost on my way to London. Some Shakespearian and Not Shakespearian
activities are on the...
1st Mar 2026
I am almost on my way to London. Some Shakespearian and Not Shakespearian
activities are on the schedule.
My reading, before this trip, was again very British.
THE WAR OF THE POETS
Antonio and Mellida (1599?) &
Antonio's Revenge (1600?), John Marston – A remarkable
pair of...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Dizzying but Invisible Depth
The following is from https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe, but Google+ is...
16th Jan 2021
The following is from https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe, but Google+ is shutdown, so it’s not easily sharable. I’m reposting here because this is such a useful post.
Dizzying but invisible depth
You just went to the Google home page.
Simple, isn’t...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Steven Scrawls
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
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...
sbensu
Everybody is the main character
People are motivated and engaged with the work only if they feel in charge of their own destiny....
4th Apr 2023
People are motivated and engaged with the work only if they feel in charge of their own destiny. Make it clear to them that they are!
Steven Scrawls
Word Rot
Word Rot
Unless you are extraordinarily unfortunate, every problem you ever
face will have been...
12th Dec 2023
Word Rot
Unless you are extraordinarily unfortunate, every problem you ever
face will have been faced in some form by someone who came before you.
That person may have already shared the story of that challenge, and
that story might have melded with other tales to form collective...
Ploum.net
Pas de médaille pour les résistants
Pas de médaille pour les résistants
Si vous voulez changer le monde, il faut entrer en résistance....
26th Aug 2025
Pas de médaille pour les résistants
Si vous voulez changer le monde, il faut entrer en résistance. Il faut accepter d’agir et de se taire. Il faut accepter de perdre du confort, des opportunités, des relations. Et il ne faut espérer aucune récompense, aucune reconnaissance.
Un...
ben-mini
Nucleus Nouns
Consider the “nouns” the live inside an app of your choice:
You can spend hours building a list for...
10th Apr 2026
Consider the “nouns” the live inside an app of your choice:
You can spend hours building a list for just one app. But the more interesting exercise is weighting the nouns by impact in the app- considering which ones have the most “gravity” from the eyes of the user:
You quickly...
Salish Wolf
#9 Luke Gifford on the Hero’s Journey, Shadow Work, and Childhood Trauma
Occasionally a person enters my life who I know almost instantly is going
to have a profound...
8th Jun 2020
Occasionally a person enters my life who I know almost instantly is going
to have a profound impact on my personal journey. My guest in this episode,
Luke Gifford, is one of those people. From our ‘non-chance’ encounter
almost 2 years ago at a personal growth event, we...
Astral Codex Ten
"All Lawful Use": Much More Than You Wanted To Know
...
1st Mar 2026
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] Oooohhh Summer, How Much Risk Is a Useful Amount of Risk?
Roden Readers —
There is sweat and then there is s-w-e-a-t and the out-of-doorsness in Japan is...
4th Aug 2026
Roden Readers —
There is sweat and then there is s-w-e-a-t and the out-of-doorsness in Japan is presently a natural machine that produces nothing but sweat and sweat and sweat and swelter. Dryness has been eradicated. Fire is impossible to start. Blowtorch any single thing and it...
Escaping Flatland
Modular life, meaningful work
Highlights from the cutting room floor, pt. 3
5th Feb 2025
Highlights from the cutting room floor, pt. 3
Naz Hamid • Journal
Latent Co. is Forming
An homage to the Mac
Ryan Carver, Juan Pablo Zambrano, and I have formed Latent Co., a software...
2nd Dec 2025
An homage to the Mac
Ryan Carver, Juan Pablo Zambrano, and I have formed Latent Co., a software company. Driven by the creative tooling we’ve cut our teeth on and drawing on our product and imaging experience, we’re making a product for Mac.
Ryan and I go back a while: Typekit,...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Grandstand Grant
This year: more people in photos. And more people in photos in landscapes. Cherish the times with...
19th May 2023
This year: more people in photos. And more people in photos in landscapes. Cherish the times with friends in special places. Here, Grant in Death Valley.
Read on nazhamid.com or Reply via email
Salish Wolf
Welcome to Salish Wolf Podcast
In this podcast I share with you incredible stories of extraordinary
endeavors that capture the...
2nd Apr 2020
In this podcast I share with you incredible stories of extraordinary
endeavors that capture the magic of the human spirit.
The inspiration for this podcast is a wolf named Takaya who gained global
fame for living alone for nearly a decade on a tiny archipelago in the...
Josh Thompson
Change
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Or something like that. Sometimes change is for...
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...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Craft Is Not Culture
A time, a place, and humans.
Let’s take a moment to consider the font, Instrument Serif. Created by...
24th May 2026
A time, a place, and humans.
Let’s take a moment to consider the font, Instrument Serif. Created by the Portland-based design agency Instrument for their own use — along with Instrument Sans — they open-sourced it on GitHub, where it made its way to Google Fonts, in a generous...
Josh Thompson
December Review, January Goals
This is a follow-up from last month’s goals
1. Deepen Knowledge of Back-end Development
I finished...
5th Jan 2017
This is a follow-up from last month’s goals
1. Deepen Knowledge of Back-end Development
I finished OverTheWire’s Bandit series, except the last lesson, which didn’t make sense. (It does now! Turns out login shells and “regular” shells are different. I’ll take another spin at it...
The Marginalian
Octavia Butler on Religion and the Spirituality of Symbiosis
"On many levels, we wind up being strengthened by what we join, or what joins us, as well as by what...
2nd Nov 2023
"On many levels, we wind up being strengthened by what we join, or what joins us, as well as by what we combat."
The American Scholar
A Messy Mix
The post A Messy Mix appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st May 2024
The post A Messy Mix appeared first on The American Scholar.
The Marginalian
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
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
ben-mini
Everything is a Spreadsheet
Revisiting an old 2020 Invest Like the Best podcast that interviews John Collision, co-founder of...
9th Nov 2025
Revisiting an old 2020 Invest Like the Best podcast that interviews John Collision, co-founder of Stripe. When asked about his thoughts on no-code:
I don’t think no-code is fully a panacea. Even when you’re doing no-code, you’re still reasoning about the relations between...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Blog -...
Welcome to Anchor Point Blog
I am starting this blog for one primary reason: my belief that
self-discovery does not have to be...
17th Nov 2019
I am starting this blog for one primary reason: my belief that
self-discovery does not have to be a solo journey. Through this blog men
can connect to resources that will help to enhance their personal
development. Many of these resources have deeply impacted my growth, and...
Ben Borgers
War Room — using the native date picker
13th Feb 2023
Escaping Flatland
On mentors
What is it that motivates someone to take on someone and help them grow? Why do some learners have...
8th Nov 2023
What is it that motivates someone to take on someone and help them grow? Why do some learners have that privilege?
Idle Words
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
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...
Ben Borgers
Stickies: Spatial note-taking
2nd Apr 2023
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Notes at 45
As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings....
12th Apr 2023
As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings. Here are some of them:
People > things. In our current society, the deepening pit of materialism, capitalism, and an insatiable desire for more has become all-consuming. However,...
the late review
the mirror-self
an obsession
12th Dec 2025
Josh Thompson
Trip Report: New River Gorge
Kristi and I are spending a few weeks in Fayetteville, WV, home of the New River Gorge. There’s...
13th Sep 2015
Kristi and I are spending a few weeks in Fayetteville, WV, home of the New River Gorge. There’s fantastic climbing here. I climbed with good friends, and was absolutely humbled by how strong they all are. (My defense, at least for the next few weeks, is that I’ve not climbed...
The Elysian
My TEDx talk about the future of fiction
And publishing.
16th Jun 2024
Ploum.net
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
J’apprends avec tristesse le décès de l’architecte Philippe Samyn, un...
1st Jun 2026
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
J’apprends avec tristesse le décès de l’architecte Philippe Samyn, un esprit incroyable aux idées fulgurantes avec qui j’ai eu de longues et passionnantes discussions.
Philippe Samyn - Wikipédia (fr.wikipedia.org)
Car l’architecture était pour lui une...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Silence Where Hope Was'
I’m coming to suspect that
nothing is ever irretrievably lost to memory. The other night I dreamed...
1st Oct 2025
I’m coming to suspect that
nothing is ever irretrievably lost to memory. The other night I dreamed of a
schoolmate I hardly knew who died sixty years ago. His name was Randy Peck. He
had a twin sister named Mandy. Their names invited jokes, of course, as did
their Georgia accents...
Escaping Flatland
On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2
Cutlery designed by Salvador Dalí
11th Aug 2026
Cutlery designed by Salvador Dalí
Josh Thompson
On Learning
As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the...
5th Jun 2017
As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the context of software development.
I am a bit hyperactive when it comes to trying to learn new things. Over the years, I’ve done plenty of ineffective learning, and at least a...
sbensu
Risk-takers decide faster
Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
5th Nov 2024
Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
Josh Thompson
Do Not Neglect The Needful Role of the Witness
Introduction
Elsewhere I’ve mentioned “the role of the witness”, been sitting on this as a draft (in...
7th Jul 2025
Introduction
Elsewhere I’ve mentioned “the role of the witness”, been sitting on this as a draft (in my head) for a long time.
I absolutely cannot move away from the phrasing:
Do not neglect the needful role of the Witness
I capitalize Witness, as this is a real “role”, and it’s...
Josh Thompson
Gratitude 3x/day
Earlier this year, I read
The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here):
If you do these...
1st Jun 2016
Earlier this year, I read
The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here):
If you do these seven things every morning you’ll be the most amazing person you’ve ever met.
OK, it’s not exactly that bold, but it’s not far off. It wasn’t a terrible book, it had lots of good...
Escaping Flatland
The world reveals itself to those who travel by foot
Nothing was as scary as we thought, and everything was weirder and more friendly.
6th May 2026
Nothing was as scary as we thought, and everything was weirder and more friendly.
The Marginalian
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
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...
ben-mini
Making My SQL Skills Obsolete
Quick Update: I updated my domain to ben-mini.com! All old URLs and the RSS feed under...
22nd Dec 2024
Quick Update: I updated my domain to ben-mini.com! All old URLs and the RSS feed under ben-mini.github.io will automatically redirect, so no changes are needed on your end.
By far, the most useful LLM app I’ve made is the Kibu Schema God:
I try not to make my posts too...
The Marginalian
From the Labor Camp to the Pantheon of Literature: How Dostoyevsky Became a Writer
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
1st Sep 2024
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
Naz Hamid • Journal
It’s Time
Gains without measurement.
The weight fell off. Literally and figuratively, the device that now...
10th Jan 2026
Gains without measurement.
The weight fell off. Literally and figuratively, the device that now occupies my wrist is simple. It’s much smaller, tells the time, and the date. It requires no battery and is powered by my own kinetic movement, like riding a bicycle.
For the past few...
Josh Thompson
Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!)
alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and...
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,...
The Elysian
Let's read the Terra Ignota series together
Our summer reading is Ada Palmer's feat of utopian worldbuilding.
3rd Jul 2024
Our summer reading is Ada Palmer's feat of utopian worldbuilding.
Josh Thompson
Ethan Magnass' sermons from Grace Anglican Church in Grove City, PA
I’ve been recommending a collection of sermons to many people recently.
I’ve listened to each of...
14th Dec 2020
I’ve been recommending a collection of sermons to many people recently.
I’ve listened to each of these sermons quite a few times. They’re worth your time.
Ethan Magness is the rector at Grace Anglican Church in Grove City, PA.
Sermon Series on Joseph
Grace Anglican Church podcast...
The Perry Bible...
Please
The post Please appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
26th Jul 2024
The post Please appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
The Marginalian
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Context Setting for certain patterns & classes of relationship difficulties
I’ve been “catching up” a lot in my life lately. Some of that catching up involves bringing up to...
3rd Jul 2022
I’ve been “catching up” a lot in my life lately. Some of that catching up involves bringing up to speed various people I’ve not spoken too (or spoken too much, or openly, or recently, or ever, or some combination thereof).
I am strongly biased towards written/editable/consistent...
The Elysian
Metanational corporations are redesigning the world map
Parag Khanna on metanational corporations and how they are opening borders, reshaping geopolitics,...
2nd Feb 2025
Parag Khanna on metanational corporations and how they are opening borders, reshaping geopolitics, and creating a world of interconnected city-states.
The American Scholar
We Are the Borg
Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us?
The post We Are the Borg appeared first on...
3rd Jun 2024
Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us?
The post We Are the Borg appeared first on The American Scholar.
Naz Hamid • Journal
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
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...
The Perry Bible...
Hacked
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
5th Apr 2024
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
the late review
this is the late review
a casual blog of late reviews
21st Jul 2024
a casual blog of late reviews
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Biblioteca Vasconselos
In the Buenavista neighborhood resides this impressive library that spans 409,000 sq ft, designed by...
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
A measuring device that tells me what is interesting
+ links
2nd Oct 2024
sbensu
Hiring from Big Tech
Some brief notes about the subject
30th Mar 2024
Some brief notes about the subject
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ To Comprehend
To stand in a landscape that is hard to comprehend is to know that not all that should be celebrated...
14th Jul 2023
To stand in a landscape that is hard to comprehend is to know that not all that should be celebrated is human-made. To understand that to get here, it took hundreds, thousands, millions of denominations of time to render this environment is a lesson in a slow life that we’ve...
This Space
This Space of Writing ten years on
Today in 2015 my blog-collection This Space of Writing was published as a book. An ideal Christmas...
11th Dec 2025
Today in 2015 my blog-collection This Space of Writing was published as a book. An ideal Christmas gift. Not a happy memory to be honest; an editor would have made it a better book. However, I can't fault the cover design, and I was lucky to have Flowerville's permission to use...
sbensu
Creative kernels
Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
1st Jul 2024
Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
Blog -...
Book Review - Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant
In the book Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, author Roland Lazenby
meticulously shares the...
29th Mar 2020
In the book Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, author Roland Lazenby
meticulously shares the journey of Kobe Bryant, from ancestral influences
up through his final game in the NBA. He is a clear fan of Kobe’s
inarguable work ethic, but he allows readers to reinforce their...
The American Scholar
On Returning
The post On Returning appeared first on The American Scholar.
2 weeks ago
The post On Returning appeared first on The American Scholar.
This Space
Reading, forgetting
When John Updike read À la recherche du temps perdu after having read Scott-Moncrieff's translation,...
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...
Salish Wolf
#94 Jay St. Charles on Project Quiver
Jay St. Charles is a legendary bowyer based in Fall City, Washington. While
he was born into the...
a week ago
Jay St. Charles is a legendary bowyer based in Fall City, Washington. While
he was born into the world of archery and grew up in his father’s archery
shop, Jay eventually became a master bowyer, carving bows under the brand
of Pacific Yew Longbows. He lives on a small...
The American Scholar
“A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In”
The post “A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In” appeared first on The American Scholar.
3rd Aug 2026
The post “A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In” appeared first on The American Scholar.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Eva Decker
Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC...
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 →
ribbonfarm
Imagination vs. Creativity
I like to make a distinction between imagination and creativity that you may or may not agree with....
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...
Steven Scrawls
Doomr
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the...
14th Feb 2024
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the website for this one.
Idle Words
The Shape of a Mars Mission
This post is the second in a series. Read part one here.
p {line-height:1.6em; }
p.caption {...
20th Feb 2025
This post is the second in a series. Read part one here.
p {line-height:1.6em; }
p.caption { margin-top:0px;padding-top:0px;margin-bottom:20px;text-align:center;}
a.fnote {text-decoration:none;color:red}
img {margin-bottom:0px;}
“From a mathematics and trajectory...
Robert Caro
In Florida, the Pitch Is High and Hard
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars...
29th Mar 2023
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars from people who cannot afford it.
Josh Thompson
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
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...
This Space
Reading, ignorance
The papacy, people say, counts in centuries, and perhaps never even thinks of counting, because its...
23rd Jun 2026
The papacy, people say, counts in centuries, and perhaps never even thinks of counting, because its goal is eternity.1
It has been a pleasure every few months to buy the latest volume in the new translation of À la recherche du temps perdu. I've now read the third, by Peter...
Wuthering...
Marlowe's restless Doctor Faustus - I’ll burn my books!
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the great
scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange...
8th Dec 2025
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the great
scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of power
and knowledge. After learning and doing
everything he wants he spends Acts III and IV playing an increasingly stupid
series of pranks on anyone and...
Anecdotal Evidence
'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
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...
the late review
against the fleeing to europe industrial complex
a brief polemic
18th May 2025
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] Hark, a Book Appears!
Roden Readers —
Howdy! From the sky! En route to NYC! I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden, a newsletter...
2nd May 2025
Roden Readers —
Howdy! From the sky! En route to NYC! I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden, a newsletter sent via magic tubes.
Since returning from Spain I’ve been in full-bore April Pod Mode, recording a dozen+ interviews and working on a bunch of essays for various publications in...
the late review
some thoughts on siegfried
a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
3rd Jan 2025
a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
Wuthering...
What I Read in June 2025 - A life of agony was all for naught.
My summer plan was to read, short, easy books, and I almost
succeeded. I read short, difficult...
3rd Jul 2025
My summer plan was to read, short, easy books, and I almost
succeeded. I read short, difficult books
in French, and accidentally read several grim, sad, violent books, alongside some
playful nonsense.
FICTION
The Field of Life and Death (1935), Xiao Hong – For example. Ninety...
The Elysian
Yes, Taylor Swift is just as genius as Mary Shelley
The video from our live event.
3rd Oct 2024
The video from our live event.
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Redefining Success
It’s been pretty quiet around here lately. It’s been almost a month since my last entry. I thought...
6th Nov 2013
It’s been pretty quiet around here lately. It’s been almost a month since my last entry. I thought about writing something here almost every day, but here is why I didn’t:
I want to produce “content” that is helpful and relevant to those who might read it.
I felt like nothing I...
The American Scholar
New Year, Old Year
The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jan 2025
The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
Josh Thompson
How I take notes, AKA 'Add an Index to Your Notebook'
A while back, sometime in 2017, I wrote this tweet:
a while ago, I read about how to keep...
4th Sep 2019
A while back, sometime in 2017, I wrote this tweet:
a while ago, I read about how to keep well-organized notes on a range of topics. Here's my current notebook, indexed by category: pic.twitter.com/aVsNnGPEpd
— Josh Thompson (@josh_works) May 8, 2017
Since then, I occasionally...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Kazunori Hamana in Apartamento
Ridgeline subscribers —
Man, it was fun talking with Kazunori Hamana back in January. He’s lived a...
12th Jul 2026
Ridgeline subscribers —
Man, it was fun talking with Kazunori Hamana back in January. He’s lived a bizarre life, seemingly one without a roadmap, though I suspect his laid-back, subtly-goatee’d vibes belie a cunning streak. He was welcoming and rough-edged in a disarming way. He...
Ben Borgers
Coding agents write 90% of my code now
18th Dec 2025
Josh Thompson
Rails Migration: When you can't add a uniqueness constraint because you already have duplicates
I get to occasionally contribute to the Wombat Security dev blog. I wrote the following for...
28th Sep 2018
I get to occasionally contribute to the Wombat Security dev blog. I wrote the following for development.wombatsecurity.com.
This post has been updated to reflect some lessons learned while running this migration in production. Don’t leave a column without an index at any point in...
Josh Thompson
Monthly Review: November
This is my second monthly review, and I’m hooked.
I’ve thought this coming review frequently, but I...
1st Dec 2013
This is my second monthly review, and I’m hooked.
I’ve thought this coming review frequently, but I thought about that as I was conducting my month. This proactive review is in line with
Viktor Frankl’s admonition to “live every day as if it were your second chance to live it.”...
Anecdotal Evidence
'So a Fool Returneth to His Folly'
Grownups seldom credit children
with insight into human psychology, thus treating them as smaller,...
1st Apr 2025
Grownups seldom credit children
with insight into human psychology, thus treating them as smaller, more annoying versions
of themselves. My father had an acquaintance even he knew was a fool. By admitting such knowledge, he was violating adult solidarity. His friend's customary...
sbensu
Notes on UX and LLM integrations
I analyze 8 apps (ChatGPT, Notion, Perplexity, etc.) that use or integrate LLM and try to break down...
1st Jan 2024
I analyze 8 apps (ChatGPT, Notion, Perplexity, etc.) that use or integrate LLM and try to break down when and why they work well, or poorly.
Naz Hamid • Journal
Have the Coffee
Carve space out for opportunity.
After speaking in Kuala Lumpur last week, people stayed to discuss...
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...
The Marginalian
The Sunflower and the Soul: Wendell Berry on the Collaborative Nature of the Universe and the Cure...
"We are not the authors of ourselves. That we are not is a religious perception, but it is also a...
1st Jul 2024
"We are not the authors of ourselves. That we are not is a religious perception, but it is also a biological and a social one. Each of us has had many authors, and each of us is engaged, for better or worse, in that same authorship. We could say that the human race is a great...
Josh Thompson
Structural Holes and Good Ideas
Note from author: This is part of an experimental series, more-or-less based on “white papers” and...
18th Mar 2021
Note from author: This is part of an experimental series, more-or-less based on “white papers” and academic literature, as applied to somewhat practical-ish domains.
These pages serve as a brief overview of a paper, and I’ll be able to link to this paper down the road when I what...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Dissocial Media
I've been writing in my real handwritten journal in recent weeks that I've felt the weight of social...
1st Aug 2023
I've been writing in my real handwritten journal in recent weeks that I've felt the weight of social networks. And the manipulation and behavior patterning it's designed to do.
I worked for a softer social network for almost two years and while we weren't as abhorrent as the huge...
The Marginalian
Love and the Sacred
"I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
3rd Jan 2024
"I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
ben-mini
What’s Preventing Us from Building a Beautiful Product?
I just finished listening to Lenny’s conversation with Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, about what...
5th Feb 2025
I just finished listening to Lenny’s conversation with Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, about what it takes to build a great SaaS product.
Like many SaaS apps, the Kibu team and I have taken inspiration from Linear. But as we plan our roadmap and implement new solutions, I ask...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ The New Design
A few times a week, we get emails from students and young designers looking for an internship or...
21st May 2013
A few times a week, we get emails from students and young designers looking for an internship or full-time opportunities at the studio. We’re not quite ready in terms of needing outside help, so these are unsolicited inquiries. We don’t make any mention of not accepting them as...
sbensu
The secondary market in gift cards
This post by patio11 covers a few things that I learned working with gift cards over the years.
13th Dec 2021
This post by patio11 covers a few things that I learned working with gift cards over the years.
Ben Borgers
How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace
10th Jul 2023
Blog -...
Book Review - Owning Your Own Shadow
The shadow of the human psyche cannot be overlooked in a thorough
exploration of personal...
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...
Ben Borgers
Don’t standardize your company’s coding agents yet
10th Nov 2025
ribbonfarm
History is More Like Science Fiction Than Fantasy
I’ve been slow-reading Bettany Hughes’ Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities for months now, ever since I...
2nd Apr 2024
I’ve been slow-reading Bettany Hughes’ Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities for months now, ever since I visited the city (on Kindle, so I didn’t realize when I started that it’s 600 pages plus another 250 odd notes). It’s dense and absorbing and I’ll probably do a reflections post...
Josh Thompson
On Scooters as a class of vehicle/tool
Introduction
Often when I say “scooter”, especially in the united states, the person thinks of...
18th Dec 2024
Introduction
Often when I say “scooter”, especially in the united states, the person thinks of something different than what I mean. Here’s Denver’s Sportique Scooters, here’s one of their recent posts:
So that is the kind of vehicle I’m talking about when I say “scooter”.
I...
Josh Thompson
Why schedule something that doesn't exist?
The first thing I did when making this post is I set it to be published tomorrow.
Then, I left the...
5th May 2016
The first thing I did when making this post is I set it to be published tomorrow.
Then, I left the room for a bit. I didn’t have anything to say. Or, I didn’t think I did.
Yet, all over my computer, and in various list trackers and note-taking apps, I’ve got dozens of ideas to...
The Marginalian
After Love: Maxine Kumin’s Stunning Poem About Eros as a Portal to Unselfing
It is one of the hardest things in life — discerning where we end and the rest of the world begins,...
3rd Oct 2023
It is one of the hardest things in life — discerning where we end and the rest of the world begins, negotiating the permeable boundary between self and other, all the while longing for its dissolution, longing to be set free from the prison of ourselves. That is why we cherish...
This Space
No safe landing
A review of A Winter in Zürau and Partita by Gabriel Josipovici
Gabriel Josipovici has said that...
5th Oct 2024
A review of A Winter in Zürau and Partita by Gabriel Josipovici
Gabriel Josipovici has said that as a critic he is conservative but as a novelist he is radical. The second claim may not be controversial but the first will come as a surprise to those who remember what he said...
The American Scholar
The Story of Mumbet
Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and...
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.
The Elysian
Social Development > Self-Development
We need one much more than the other.
1st Jan 2025
We need one much more than the other.
Anecdotal Evidence
'Poor Naked Wretches, Whereso’er You Are'
Aleksander Wat (1900-67)
was a Polish poet and one-time Communist hounded and imprisoned by Nazis...
1st May 2025
Aleksander Wat (1900-67)
was a Polish poet and one-time Communist hounded and imprisoned by Nazis and
Soviets alike. In 1964 while visiting California, he recorded lengthy
conversations with fellow poet and Pole Czesław Miłosz. The transcripts were
translated by Richard Lourie...
The Elysian
Maybe an exowomb is better than pregnancy
The Pod Generation’s near-future satire pits nature against technology. Which is the better curator?
2nd Jul 2025
The Pod Generation’s near-future satire pits nature against technology. Which is the better curator?
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Astral Codex Ten
Book Review: The Rise Of Christianity
...
12th Nov 2024
Josh Thompson
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
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....
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] New Japan, NYC, Soderbergh Bonanza, Too Much Movement
Roden Readers —
Hello from Crazy Weather Town. Is it spring? Some days it feels like it might be,...
2nd May 2026
Roden Readers —
Hello from Crazy Weather Town. Is it spring? Some days it feels like it might be, for a few milliseconds. And then other days, no. No spring for you. The floor heating was on this morning and that felt good. Soon enough the sauna will be on over the entirety of...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
ribbonfarm
Intellectual Menopause
I ran across the alarming phrase intellectual menopause a few months ago in John Gall’s...
16th Aug 2024
I ran across the alarming phrase intellectual menopause a few months ago in John Gall’s Systemantics, and it naturally stuck in my brain given I’m pushing 50 and getting predictably angsty about it. The phrase conjures up visions of a phenomenon much more profound and unfunny...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
The Elysian
Humanity from the perspective of robots
Talking points for our literary salon next week.
1st May 2024
Talking points for our literary salon next week.
Josh Thompson
Wrapping my head around local politics 001
Warning: Buzzwords ahead about millennials.*
As a millennial, I want to “get involved” in my “local...
24th Aug 2016
Warning: Buzzwords ahead about millennials.*
As a millennial, I want to “get involved” in my “local community”, and don’t know the best way to “mobilize my resources”.
vomit. I hate admitting that. But I still want to figure out
if it is possible for me (little old me) to do...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Liquid Gold
Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular...
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...
The Marginalian
Youth and Age: Kahlil Gibran on the Art of Becoming
A roadmap to the fulfilled belonging on the other side of "the great aloneness which knows not what...
4th Apr 2023
A roadmap to the fulfilled belonging on the other side of "the great aloneness which knows not what is far and what is near, nor what is small nor great."
The Marginalian
Grace Paley on the Countercultural Courage of Imagining Other Lives
“Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real,” Iris...
1st Aug 2024
“Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real,” Iris Murdoch wrote in her superb investigation of the parallels between art and morality. There could be no such realization without imagination, which is our only instrument for fathoming...
sbensu
Language thought-orientation
You can tell a lot from somebody based on their speech patterns
27th Jan 2025
You can tell a lot from somebody based on their speech patterns
Ploum.net
Offpunk 3.0 "A Community is Born" Release
Offpunk 3.0 "A Community is Born" Release
For the last four years, I’ve been developing Offpunk, a...
9th Feb 2026
Offpunk 3.0 "A Community is Born" Release
For the last four years, I’ve been developing Offpunk, a command-line Web, Gemini, and Gopher browser that allows you to work offline. And I’ve just released version 3.0. It is probably not for everyone, but I use it every single day. I...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Now Reopen for Business
California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it...
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...
Steven Scrawls
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process
The context is smarter than you.
5th Aug 2024
The context is smarter than you.
sbensu
How to avoid breaking APIs
The main trick is to design them with extension in mind so that you won't have to break them later.
16th Mar 2023
The main trick is to design them with extension in mind so that you won't have to break them later.
Wuthering...
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
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,...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings'
Unlike his friends
Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as
a...
1st Mar 2025
Unlike his friends
Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as
a result, Charles Lamb had little interest in the momentous events of his day.
About “Boney” – Napoleon Bonaparte – he wished only to know the dictator’s
height, unlike Hazlitt, who...
Steven Scrawls
Quicksilver and Clay
Quicksilver and Clay
Like everyone else, I walk around the world in a body made of
quicksilver and...
11th Jan 2024
Quicksilver and Clay
Like everyone else, I walk around the world in a body made of
quicksilver and clay. The pieces of my body—my sense of humor, my
beliefs, my opinions and artistic sensibilities and worldviews,
everything—combine to present a cohesive self to be...
This Space
A mighty contagious absence, part two
On submission and resistance to AI-generated literature
To great writers, finished works weigh...
26th May 2025
On submission and resistance to AI-generated literature
To great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they work throughout their lives. For only the more feeble and distracted take an inimitable pleasure in conclusions, feeling themselves...
The American Scholar
Dottie Lo Bue
House and home
The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
4th Nov 2024
House and home
The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
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