Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 30, 2022
It’d be funny if Biden appointed Anita Hill to the Supreme Court. Of course, it won’t happen. She’d never accept. But it’d be funny in the most tone deaf, hateful way imaginable.
The 56th Year in Lessons Learned | Notes from an Old-ish Man
I was born on February 3, 1966. I have just completed my 56th stroll around the calendar and walking those dirt roads toward the inevitable. What have I gleaned from those 365 days that merit sharing here?
New Girl Scout Cookies Flavors!
It’s okay to cry while you eat these. They are also absorbent.
Love Story for Sale: Wordle and the New York Times
Part of the charm was that it was one word for all of us. You get one shot at it a day giving us all something to look forward to in moderation. Anyone with access to the internet could play. Wordle was connective tissue in an otherwise disconnected world.
The Point of Democracy is Populism
Democracy is dependent upon populism. The more of the population who casts a vote in one direction or the other determines who wins power. It's not a complicated idea. Part of the bargain requires that win your side loses, you accept the loss. We're not quite so good at that part lately.
![I Believe... [Omicron is COVID on Tinder]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1643387977280-VH5X3LF5LDAPF7ZV22U5/6F58F5D2-06CA-42BE-A116-0C1DA545FC94.png)
I Believe... [Omicron is COVID on Tinder]
...that Omicron is the Tinder version of COVID—it’ll fuck anybody once, every night, and move on to the next swipe.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 23, 2022
There are only seven stories in the world. And the storytelling community continues to think we’re not bored with all of them.
Masterpieces in Sand
Roy looked down from the cliffs at the man drawing in the sand. The picture that started to emerge startled him. It was an extraordinary face, not realistically rendered, but seemingly viewed from many angles at once. In fact, it looked much like a Picasso.
A Letter from the Superintendent of Schools
We have no control on what Chipotle charges for their burritos.
![Holding My Son as We’re Violently Burned to Death [REPOST]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1580565403490-JCYKP1F40GF6OIQNO5V5/heart-on-fire.jpg)
Holding My Son as We’re Violently Burned to Death [REPOST]
But, son, I was not lying when I said I’d do anything to protect you.
Anything to keep you safe.
Sometimes that meant watching you put yourself in harm’s way.
Life is pointless without risk.
Sometimes it meant watching you get your heart broken
or hearing your bones break from the bleacher seats on the sidelines.
Harm and hurt, you see, are unfortunately, required of us.
The Universe demands it.
They are two of the many ways we learn and become stronger, better people.
Or so I always tried to be better
and I hope that I instilled that desire in you.
The Bog
Finn placed his hand on Michael’s shoulder and squeezed. “I wish there was another way, Michael. I do. But this is best for you. And us, o’course. A hunter best hunts alone. You’ll be a better man for it when ye come home.”
![I Believe... [1619 + 1776 = A Fuller Picture]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1642541591883-NTXEDDP1Y79YAZ0KZTTZ/B233E70E-404A-471B-8442-BBFEDCB36BCD.jpeg)
I Believe... [1619 + 1776 = A Fuller Picture]
...that the 1619 Project is some solid reading and, while not a definitive history of the country’s founding, a brilliant parallel view to understanding the brilliance of the Founding Fathers creating the republic. Both are true and together provide a more complete comprehension.
It's in the Pragmatic Solutions that Salvation Awaits
While I look nothing like Joe Biden (I've been told I look like Al Franken, which is the closest to any former political seat of power I'll ever be, I suppose) I believe that most of our cultural and political issues are easily solved with some common sense, aw-shucks pragmatism.
I Like to Watch | Tree of Life (2011)
It's about the molecular connection we all have with the planet and the universe and each other. It's about primordial soup evolving over time into weeds that Jack is instructed to pull from the root, not just the top. It's about the brief glimpse of a human life, filled with pettiness and violence and sex and love and hate.
Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of January 16, 2022
Parenting is sometimes you and your kid getting pissed at each other over how fast he eats his box of raisins.
Based On A True Feeling
Now something has broken, and her vision is brand new and it feels amazing. Little more than a week past eighteen and really in her own skin for the first time. Like he gave her something that would always be hers.
This is the first time she has let herself look in the mirror since then.
Let’s Ruin Your Favorite Shows and Movies!
HOW I MET YOUR FATHER: We don’t find out.
Performative Trauma is a Devil's Bargain
Complexity and marketing are not compatible lovers.
![I Believe... [A Mouthful of Shit]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/579fa3912994ca0eff850271/1642205057069-4UMBYB3SC7RV6VIVBI9R/DDB792B9-2D97-4C73-8FDC-795897841880.jpeg)
I Believe... [A Mouthful of Shit]
...that an opinion without some factual backup is like a cake without sugar. It's heavy, flat and tastes like a mouthful of shit.
The Definition of Success and Failure Determines the Roads You Take
What would you do if you knew you would not fail?
For Thanksgiving in 2012, I was single and Mom decided that I should come out to my step-sister's place in Branson, Missouri for a good old-fashioned country Thanksgiving. The carrot was family. The stick was Missouri.