-
Recent Posts
- Weekly Review January 6, 2024
- Woods September 23, 2023
- Melange September 23, 2023
- Brown September 22, 2023
- Infected September 22, 2023
- Doughnuts September 21, 2023
- Mothballed September 21, 2023
- Motownish September 20, 2023
- Far III September 19, 2023
- Far II September 19, 2023
- Far September 19, 2023
- Burbs September 16, 2023
- Celtic September 15, 2023
- Aroma September 15, 2023
- Mace September 15, 2023
- Timeless September 15, 2023
- Humidity September 15, 2023
- Hospitality September 14, 2023
- Road II September 14, 2023
- Galaxy July 23, 2023
- Jab April 11, 2021
- Lockheed April 5, 2021
- Out February 25, 2021
- International February 10, 2021
- Goat February 8, 2021
Tags
Archives
- January 2024 (1)
- September 2023 (18)
- July 2023 (1)
- April 2021 (2)
- February 2021 (3)
- January 2021 (2)
- December 2020 (1)
- November 2020 (1)
- October 2020 (1)
- September 2020 (1)
- July 2020 (3)
- June 2020 (1)
- May 2020 (1)
- April 2020 (1)
- March 2020 (4)
- January 2020 (1)
- December 2019 (1)
- November 2019 (50)
- October 2019 (4)
- September 2019 (1)
- July 2019 (6)
- June 2019 (6)
- May 2019 (4)
- April 2019 (10)
- March 2019 (10)
- February 2019 (11)
- January 2019 (17)
- December 2018 (5)
- November 2018 (89)
- October 2018 (18)
- September 2018 (28)
- August 2018 (6)
- July 2018 (3)
- June 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (9)
- April 2018 (38)
- March 2018 (96)
- February 2018 (4)
- January 2018 (11)
- December 2017 (5)
- November 2017 (7)
- October 2017 (23)
- September 2017 (15)
- August 2017 (7)
- July 2017 (3)
- June 2017 (8)
- May 2017 (1)
- April 2017 (6)
- March 2017 (10)
- February 2017 (75)
- January 2017 (64)
- December 2016 (80)
- November 2016 (45)
- October 2016 (46)
- September 2016 (12)
- August 2016 (32)
- July 2016 (35)
- June 2016 (13)
- May 2016 (18)
- April 2016 (5)
- March 2016 (8)
- February 2016 (9)
- January 2016 (16)
- December 2015 (20)
- November 2015 (21)
- October 2015 (35)
- September 2015 (12)
- August 2015 (9)
- July 2015 (24)
- June 2015 (11)
- May 2015 (39)
- April 2015 (14)
- March 2015 (14)
- February 2015 (29)
- January 2015 (31)
- December 2014 (27)
Monthly Archives: October 2017
Portrait
At some point in high school, a friend demanded that I read James Joyce‘s The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I promptly bought a copy, put it on my bookshelf, and ignored it for a quarter of … Continue reading
Appointed
At least once a week, I think of this moment toward the end of Brewster’s Millions. It reminds me of the sand mandala. There’s profound beauty in getting something exactly right, even if it’s just for a fleeting moment.
Immortality
For years now I’ve been following a blog of longform essays called ribbonfarm which was started by Venkatesh Rao. (It’s considered by some to the “slightly evil” twin of Eliezer Yudkowsky‘s Less Wrong blog. In 2012, Rao drew a map of various … Continue reading
Nosedive
I told my therapist today that I felt like I had pulled out of my existential nosedive into nigh-suicidal abject despair & nihilism. Now I feel like I’m just wrestling with what I called “generic North American midlife crisis.” That … Continue reading
Desire
When the facilitator at one of the support groups I attend mentioned a Buddhist recovery meditation program, I pushed back because I’ve always been a little wary of Buddhism. Follow my thinking. Buddhism’s Four Nobles Truths are (loosely): Life is full … Continue reading
Kind
Patton Oswalt’s new Netflix comedy special Annihilation dropped today. He talked about the ongoing argument he and his late wife would have: He’d muse that the universe may have some latticework of logic & meaning and she’d insist that it’s … Continue reading
Assurances II
DAVID: Sometimes I feel like I’m just waiting to die. DEBBIE: That is dark. DAVID (trying to be reassuring): I mean, I’m patiently waiting.
Story
Dan Harmon had an amusing cameo on The Simpsons teaching at a community college.
Posted in L.A.
Leave a comment
Prime
Today is my birthday. Although I seem to have left my Answer Year with more questions than answers, 43 is a prime number and I’m holding on to that.
Posted in L.A.
Leave a comment
Assurances
I didn’t mean for my recent posts to cause anyone to worry. And I want to remind everyone that I never, ever walk out of a movie.
Posted in L.A.
Leave a comment
Diplomacy
Usually, I’m extremely careful with my words choices and always strive to select le mot juste. However, I realize that I’ve been sloppy by throwing the word “depression” around. Let me clarify. Technically, “depression” is a flatness of affect where … Continue reading
Bootstrapping
The problem of meaning is one of bootstrapping. All belief systems — be they organized religions, the 12 Steps of A.A., or Scientology — leverage axioms which must be accepted on faith. (In Dianetics, the axioms are literally printed on … Continue reading
Patch
In looking into A.A. and reading their Big Book, I’m put off by the idea that substances are this external power which requires another external power (God as we understand him) to overcome. I’m told there are thousands of agnostics … Continue reading
Diligence
For almost all of the last fifteen years, I’ve been on antidepressants prescribed by my doctor. (Briefly Prozac at the start and then Wellbutrin.) Recently, I reviewed my prescription with a psychiatrist specializing in addiction medicine. After discussing how I’ve … Continue reading
Millstone
Both as a Christian and afterward, I have been guided by Matthew 18:6 (“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their … Continue reading