Category: Journal


  • Locals Only

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    These days have that flavor of the early pandemic lockdowns, or that weird week every year between Christmas and New Years, when you aren’t sure what day it is or when you last showered or exactly how many days you are getting out of your underwear. It is only now that I am reminded how…


  • After The Storm

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    I’m collecting links for the print-on-demand stores for artists around Asheville/ Buncombe County/ Western North Carolina to share and promote. The goal is to support the local artists who were so heavily impacted without burdening them with order fulfillment. When I’m feeling uninspired, I’ll wander around the Marquee in the River Arts district. It is a…


  • What This Could Be – September 27

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    It was the week of crushing rains. Something like 8 inches has fallen over the last 24 hours with more on the way. The trash guys still picked up this week, only to leave the bins with the lid open. By the time I retrieved the can it was half full of water – probably…


  • Garbage Town USA

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    They might call it Trasheville – as a play on Asheville. It all depends who you talk to. There is still a healthy punk scene that is forever supported by the artisans and students and focused spirit that this is very much an arts town. Like any city, Asheville has its growing pains that look…


  • Keeping Dirt In One Spot

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    We’re looking at four (maybe five?) straight days of rain here in Asheville. Yes, North Carolina gets hurricanes – but we’re also 400 miles inland and up in the mountains. It is an odd place to be when this kind of weather hits. Loads of rain isn’t uncommon for Asheville. When we moved here in…


  • Pure KAOS

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    If I wrote something for every series I watched, this would be entirely different website featuring far more reality-based programs than I care to admit (no, not documentaries. yes…THOSE realities). KAOS was a lot of fun. I knew all those old Greek myths I studied back in school would come in use at some point!…

  • Notes From AVL Fest 2024

    Notes From AVL Fest 2024

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    Since we attended in 2023, we had option to buy early tickets for $50 for the weekend – worth buying no matter what the case. I don’t recall much about the 2023 lineup other than it bounced between soaking rains and insufferable heat.

  • Eight Brown Liquids

    Eight Brown Liquids

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    Friday Night. John gets to town and we hit up the wood fired pizza place. It’s busy and the people watching is prime. I think my pie should have spent another minute in the oven – the dough was a little iffy. The three of us split a bottle of white wine. We cross the…


  • The Silly Simplicity of Tenkara fishing.

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    “Heaven knows we fly fishers are suckers for every new gizmo we think will give us a leg up on catching fish,” writes Yvon Chouinard in Simple Fly Fishing (a book I’ve had on my shelf for a long while now, only today realizing I have a signed copy). He paints us a picture of…


  • The Visceral Romance

    • Idleism

      Not to be confused with idealism. Then again, maybe idleism is the ideal? A working philosophy, a working definition: Anxiety happens against a scale of productivity. The more productive you think you need to be, and how productive you are, determine your anxiety. Idleism is about resetting the bandwidth of productivity. Your productivity should primarily…

    • Notes on: Figuring by Maria Popova

      “So much of the beauty, so much of what propels our pursuit of truth, stems from the invisible connections.” And just like that, with the thesis set, Maria Popova takes us through over five hundred pages of invisible connections between Johanns Kepler in 1617 to the launch of the Voyager space probe in 1977. Between…

    • Recently Read – August 2024

      Two major novels of note: Heretics – Leonardo Padura Translated by Anna Kushner The back of the book alluded to Padura being “Cuba’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez” – which is quite the statement. Heretic’s is a novel of Jewish diaspora masquerading as a crime novel set across a vast span of time and locations. 17th century…

    • The Firm Pays For It

      One day I’ll get my print story running again.

    • Notes on ADHD

      For most of my life, my attention span for any job is about 6 months. Once I hit the 6-month mark I get restless in the company/ position, and I start looking for other stuff to do. This was particularly excruciating in sales and account management roles when every day/ week was more or less…

    • New Rules for Social Engagement

      I am absolutely the kind of guy who can’t be trusted to spend “just a minute” on social media because I will absolutely lose the next two hours of my life to it. I get sucked in even though I KNOW there is rarely anything interesting out there. If things were perfect, I would just…

    • Algorithms Just Replace People

      When I lived in Cap Hill in Denver, my Friday night routine involved walking by a little strip mall that had both a Qdoba and a Blockbuster. I suppose I am that old. I would pick up a few DVDs and two burritos for the weekend and keep walking the few blocks to my apartment.…

    I guess I could take a video of this so you can see it and share it. There are a pair of brown rabbits in the rose garden doing that jump-around thing that animals tend to do in the springtime. It rained aggressively last night, so the ground is covered in pink and red petals…