Lately, Trump has been sounding like a grumpy old man complaining about the kids running across his lawn. Whenever he decides he wants to grab attention, he blurts out some blather that’s sure to make the headlines. So I pay no attention to when others dissect his speeches, “Truths”, and tweets. What he says is…
“Dating Is Supposed To Be Fun”
Back when I tried dating again after my 29 year marriage and the death of my wife, I had several friends who regularly offered me dating advice and checked in to see how it was going. After a few months, a half-dozen mediocre dates and a lot of wasted time trying to find matches online,…
Gift Horse
My mother sent me a surprise Christmas gift. It is a device that emits high frequency sound to interrupt and (supposedly) stop your dog from barking. It’s called an “ultrasonic anti-bark device”. My dogs bark a lot. They especially bark when they see kids riding bikes, scooters and electric minibikes, which unfortunately for me, is…
The Day Christmas Died
My friend and I were talking about Christmas last month. He had explained to his girlfriend that that he had no Christmas spirit nor any desire to have one. It isn’t that he hates Christmas or begrudges anyone who celebrates it – it was never a special time for him due to his chaotic childhood…
We Are All Dying Soon
I think about death every day. I have constant thoughts about my wife. I dream about her several nights a week. I see pictures on my wall every day that remind me of how much I loved her. I think about my little sunshine puppy who died 18 months ago. My heart still aches for…
So A Rich Guy Bought The President
There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about Elon Musk having undo influence over the US Government because he backed Trump, donated $250M-500M to his campaign (reportedly) and is now in an unelected but quite powerful position of influence. It’s clear that many other high-dollar donors to Trump’s campaign and inauguration ceremony are buying their way…
Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now
This holiday season I updated my Will and beneficiaries. The last time I did this was in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. That was nearly 5 years ago. Some things haven’t changed much: Other things have changed a lot: It’s kind of sad not to have my wife to leave everything to….
Closing Another Chapter
Sometimes it feels like all am I doing is closing another chapter of my life that was once brought me great joy. The chapter that closed this week is playing the drums. After suffering from a chronic foot/ankle injury for several years, I realized that the cause (or the cause of it never healing) was…
College Protest Redux
In Joan Didion’s book, The White Album, she wrote about college kids who protested and demonstrated on campuses during the late 60s. She interviewed Huey Newton, trying to get him to answer personal questions instead of spouting off well-rehearsed slogans and lines. She talked about upper class white kids from Santa Monica who proclaimed they…
AI Is Accelerating The Crappification Of The Internet
AI has taken what algorithms have done to the Internet and 10x’d it. What algorithms did by creating clickbait, listicles, repurposed text and dismal editing, AI is now doing with news, video, audio, music and all other content. I see it clearly when watching videos on YouTube and Reddit. People are using AI to copy…