I don’t believe by me drawing a line I can make things happen. I can’t force anybody to do anything or be anyone. But we can make invitations. – David Sim, speaking in the documentary The Human ScaleContinue readingInvitations
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Idiot Boxing
The Great Flattening continues. Even when the city was burning, even with protests to attend and petitions to sign and causes to donate to, it’s still all blending together a bit. (I’ve come to appreciate the #WhatDayIsIt tweets from Steve Portigal.) I moved during the initial lockdown period in Minneapolis, and I’m in a larger…Continue readingIdiot Boxing
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The Great Flattening
Things aren’t so bad in Minnesota as in other places, for which I’m grateful. I’m home, mostly, unless I’m going to the store or my girlfriend’s apartment, by foot or by bike, playing Frogger all the way trying to dodge other humans. Our respective offices went work-from-home only a week or so before the orders…Continue readingThe Great Flattening
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Zero Minus Plus
Lotta information to process these days. I’ve read more bits of scientific papers in the past few weeks than ever before. Doesn’t mean I know anything, though. I’ve stopped sharing what I think I’ve learned even with people close to me, at least until I hear it from multiple real experts. At least twice now…Continue readingZero Minus Plus
Went out to an event a few weekends ago, but did not actually get to attend the event, because I did not purchase tickets to the event and it was sold out when we got there. I was absolutely certain I had purchased the tickets. I remember looking at the site, I remember filling out…Continue readingI am absolutely certain I did the thing I did not do
My book advises designers to be intentional about the tools they choose and use to do the writing on their projects. For writing a book, a thing I’d never done before, I ran a few experiments to see if there was any good and smart tool I hadn’t tried before that would make it easier.…Continue readingNothing unfamiliar (Tools I used to write a book)
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Expert Ding-Dong
I keep seeing LinkedIn profile headlines with the word “expert” in them. Good grief. The surface-level reaction is: “Haha, look at that try-hard.” But that’s a defensive coating on the deeper response: “Oh shit, should I be doing that? I’m more of an expert on [Topic] than that guy!” I’ve built my share of expertise…Continue readingExpert Ding-Dong
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I acknowledge the absence of the sun
Just heard on the radio that it’s the cloudiest January on record here. I believe it. It’s required attention, that’s for sure. I take my Vitamin D supplement (a gummy, of course — treat yourself). I have a clinical-looking daylight lamp that kicks on automatically when sunrise is supposed to be. I try to stick…Continue readingI acknowledge the absence of the sun
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Tomato paste provenance
It’s disorienting, sometimes, the way objects slip in and out of our lives — what ever happened to that red shirt? Don’t I own more coffee mugs? Where on Earth did this book come from? I used to be very focused on momentos — my teenage bedroom had a meticulously arranged display of every chotchke…Continue readingTomato paste provenance
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Long paragraphs
“So often the long paragraphs I write in life are responses to Facebook posts, or reply letters to someone, or … I can put together a three-paragraph letter that burns the hair off of your eyebrows about almost any topic.” – John Roderick on the Road Work podcast I like this thought technology: Where do…Continue readingLong paragraphs