I feel like this post is going to sound like one of the most grumpy old man posts I’ve ever written on this blog, and that’s saying something. But dammit, it’s necessary. As a child who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, and had more than a passing interest in journalism, it saddens me to see where not just journalism—but content as a whole—is today. I was a photojournalist for my high school newspaper and contributed writing to it…
Home again.I am haunted.Not by ghosts,Not by evil,Simply by memoriesOf a place that no longer existsBut surrounds me, in the place I call my hometown.Everywhere I look are the homes where friendsAnd schoolmates And my father‘s coworkers lived.People I knew for the entirety of my childhoodUntil I left MontanaTo find greener pastures.As most adolescents are wont to do.Along with the homesAre all the familiar trappings of my childhood.The house where I grew up.My father‘s first workplace.His later workplace.And a strange…
When I was a child in the 1970’s, I distinctly remember the ads in the back of magazines and comic books advertising “Sea Monkeys”. The top headline touted, “Own a BOWLFUL of HAPPINESS – Instant PETS!”, and featured an (unrealistic, shockingly) image of a vaguely human-like family with a mother, father, and two children. Now, I never asked my parents for Sea Monkeys, but I’m sure enough kids did to keep the ruse going for some time. In the end,…
Sock Puppets “He’s the most amazing developer I’ve ever seen. He’s fast, he writes code that’s maintainable whether it’s by him or by anyone else. It’s secure right out of the gate, and he gets everything spot on in the first shot.” There was a pause on the other end of the line. “In fact, I’d absolutely recommend Lucas for any developer role on the planet—he’s worth whatever he’s asking now in terms of salary—there’s only one gotcha.” Another, shorter…
At some point in the future you will have to explain the events of 2020-2023 to young people who either weren’t there or weren’t old enough to understand what exactly happened. If social distancing and masking were the best we could do, then I guess 2020-2021 was as good as it could be. In an era when half of the country was being fed active disinformation (it’s not a pandemic, it’s just the flu, drink this or that and you…
A book I’ve been recently reading about writing has a really interesting perspective on something that I hadn’t thought about. That is, most of the long form writing ideas that I have don’t have me as the only character. This book talks about making sure how you write reflects what’s your story versus what’s their story if there are multiple people involved. I think what the author meant by that is both don’t bring in cursory details of the third-party…
John rolled over and checked his phone. “Tuesday, July 24th, 2029”. It was 8:12 in the morning. Two things initially struck John. First, he’d overslept. He’d woken up between 7 and 7:30 AM every day automatically almost his entire life. Second, and more strangely, John couldn’t remember anything since Thursday night. He’d gone out with friends, and while he’d been known to appreciate a double gin and tonic or two as much as the next guy, he’d never forgotten four…
In 1948, Cadillac introduced their first car with tailfins. Arguably some other cars may have had tailfins prior to that car, but the tailfin war is pretty much agreed to have begun with that Cadillac and its tiny little tailfins. Over the next 20 years, fins would grow, shift, move sideways, and become a bizarre design element across most of the auto industry, Even Mercedes-Benz wasn’t immune to this design trend, featuring “fintails” or “peilstege” until 1968 on four-door sedans,…
“Nobody remembers a pause.” – Precise author unknown In my job, I give webinar presentations, do podcasts, and regularly teach courses online and in person. Today, I regularly get feedback that people enjoy my pace, my voice (like I can control that), and it just seems really relaxed and I seem casual. That definitely wasn’t always the case. Sometimes people are surprised to hear me say that I used to be a nervous presenter, but I very much was. Don’t…
Chris had always loved garage sales. Especially on Saturday mornings before the good stuff had been looted. When he was really young, his grandfather Curtis had taken him to his first garage sale. This trip became one of many as they explored one garage sale after another for the next 20 years. It was at those early garage sales that Chris discovered the magic of secondhand things. Things that have been previously loved but now needed a new home. As…