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Blue tote parrot

December 14, 2022

I’m sitting next to a blue canvas tote. I’m going to try and describe it now.

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Chaos

December 12, 2022

In the absence of justice, in the absence of a team you’re rooting for, there is only chaos. There is the chaos of an underdog ruining everything, the chaos...

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The primarying Eschaton

December 9, 2022

Okay. In 2005, which was still a very post-9/11 world, Congress passed an act that told all of the states to ask for more verification before issuing their...

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You can have a little collectivism, as a treat

December 6, 2022

A couple of weeks before I started writing text, I was in Lisbon at a natural wine bar. I’d show up alone with my journal, find myself in the middle of...

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More assorted questions I’ve had lately

December 2, 2022

Why can’t I figure out the battery capacity of my AirPods Pro? Batteries degrade over time, and for other Apple devices like your laptop or phone, you can...

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No gods but moderation

November 30, 2022

A few years ago, I called something “crazy” in a Slack room and was very rapidly pinged, in private, by a moderator, that calling things crazy was ableist...

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Thanks for clearing security. Here is your plant.

November 22, 2022

When you know O’Hare better than you know your own family, when you call flights segments, when you weave the B-to-C concourse tunnel like it’s the...

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When does the next thing happen?

November 18, 2022

A few weeks ago, I wrote some text about the new dialectic, which tl;dr is a constellation of small, private, pseudonymous spaces. Since then, social media...

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Dopp Gang

November 16, 2022

Dudes don’t usually need much to clean up: soap, comb, shaver, deodorant. For doing this on the road, and for all other sundries, there is the dopp kit,...

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Ask a question in the Flame Free Zone

November 14, 2022

Screw it, we’re doing forums. Forums will never die. Everything else will die. Forums are the closest thing we have to immortality. Forum people will outlast...

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Pruned bonsai

November 10, 2022

I used to throw parties that drew over 250 people. This was easy. You became known as a person who was good at craft beer, during a time when “craft beer”...

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At least, like, ten or eleven questions about the direct-to-consumer bardo

November 8, 2022

It’s that time of year in Chicago when it’s cold enough that you don’t want to be outside any more than the bare minimum, so when you’re early to a place you...

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Kintsugi (take two)

November 4, 2022

Sorry about the formatting of the previous email, folks. Resending, this time with line breaks.

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Kintsugi

November 4, 2022

Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese technique of repairing old broken objects, especially porcelain & ceramic ones, with gold-dusted or gold-mixed lacquer. You...

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Paw paws are both real and here

November 1, 2022

Paw paws are both real and here

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What if it’s all scheduling?

October 28, 2022

Last weekend, I hung out with my family, and I did something I almost never do: I arrived late.

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Literally spend money when you use technology, for the love of everything

October 27, 2022

If it is technology, you must pay money for it. That is the rule. It is an immutable rule of technology. This is the way things go and you have no other...

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Shop early

October 25, 2022

Befitting a contemporary ecommerce professional, I have just completed 100% of my holiday shopping. I usually buy stuff for my immediate family, partner, and...

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Seven principles of packing

October 21, 2022

This is our hundredth text. A few of you have been here since the beginning. For this I am grateful. Text on text is overdue. For now, though, many of you...

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Open house

October 19, 2022

There are many reasons why Chicago is the best, and one of them is Open House Chicago, an annual event held by the Chicago Architecture Foundation to...

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