Category: Learning To Learn


  • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…


  • Why Kids Can’t Read

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    I have no patience for podcasts. I leave it to my wife to decide what gets listened to on long road trips (or, in the winter, when a 1,000 piece puzzle is littered all over the dining table). During our drive back from Savannah, where we spent the week of Thanksgiving and adopted our darling…


  • The path to better brains

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    Write more. All the time. See what your thoughts look like on paper. Writing by hand conditions fine motor control. This can help with everything from improving synapse connections to properly fingering your partner to orgasm. Read better. Learn to read a text deeply and thoroughly. Ideally, spend large amounts of time with novels published…


  • Back To Normal

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    “The Only Constant Is Change” About three weeks after Hurricane Helene shut down the town and wrecked the region, and we could say that we are “getting back to normal.” But what does that mean when I took a shower in the parking lot of a bank? (In a trailer, full of showers, in a…


  • QuestionStorming

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    The expectation is that people will show up to a brainstorming session with a grip of solutions ready to go. I previously worked through an alternative approach to brainstorming for those who have teams of people with varied personalities (introverts, extroverts) and how to ensure the loudest idea wasn’t mistaken for the best idea. A…


  • Joyful Creation

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    via – Reclaiming Joy in the Creator Economy – by Thomas Klaffke (creativedestruction.club)


  • Other Ways of Doing Business

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    As of this writing, in September 2024, I feel as though I join the ranks of the burnt out. I hit this weird spot where I was running a business, but I didn’t really create much. I might be shooting myself in the foot, but I’m not sure I want my sole creations of the…


  • Arbitrary Authority

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    An idea I’m working a lot with lately: nothing is real, there is no control. An extension of “only worry about the things you can control” mixed with “well, I ain’t dead.” Because when you step back and really think about all of it, nothing really matters. Everything that makes us anxious and in a…


  • It’s a Wet Heat

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    We’re hitting the first hot and wet days here in Asheville. And as uncomfortable as it is, I tell myself that it could be worse. I know the Piedmont and coastal regions are easily 10 degrees warmer and 40 percent more humid just by being. I’ll never forget our late-July trip to Wilmington for a…


  • The Universal Reminders

    • A Proposal for Superbowl Ads

      $7,000,000 for 30 seconds. That’s the going ad rate for commercial airtime for Superbowl 59. In all, $31.5 million and change going to just ad spots, just air time. This doesn’t include the revenue from on-field ads, banners, online streams, pregame spots, sponsored content, etc. “I’m only here to watch the commercials,” was the line…

    • Tasty and Nutritious

      In case anyone needed a reminder: everything on this site is created with 100% real, organic, aged and seasoned grey matter. Ten fingers type these words. On certain days, my wrists ache. The image is a stamp I’ll keep on this site. Yes, I drew it. A note: digital production can be organic. Every photo…

    • That Dead Week 2024 vibe

      The inboxes are dead, but everything else seems somewhat lively. We spent the week in Atlanta in a basement apartment with a thunderously stompy family living upstairs. I spent a fair amount of time wandering the Beltline, dropping in on breweries and galleries, drinking my fill until about three, having my siesta, and then rousing…

    • I Will Send You A Postcard

      It might be a vintage one I pick up at a garage sale. It might be one I draw or paint myself. Maybe it’s some photo artwork. Whatever it is, you probably haven’t gotten something like this in a while. Shoot me an email with your mailing address david at dtpennington dot com.

    • Hiya, Tybee

      It shocks me how docile, chill, and well-behaved a dog can be. We hadn’t planned on a pit-mix. We hardly planned on a dog this soon. After a week without a dog in the house for the first time in 16 years, the change was too harsh. Winter felt too cold. We met Tybee in…

    • App Zero – Progress Update 12.2024

      I mean, who doesn’t love a fancy new app? I mean, isn’t that what so much of the industry invests its resources to? Creating something that looks incredible and feels like it adds some kind of value too your life? So often, the value is a verified distraction. The value is in the mood boost…

    • The Loss of the “Literary Man”

      The headline is simple but does what it can to rattle the alarms: The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone. The author spends a lot of the essay pointing out how the numbers and proportions of male/female students, writers, readers, etc. have changed over the decades. Yes, duh. They’ve dropped across the board. Oh,…

    Because sometimes you wonder if this is all worth it. Because doing your own thing, running your own business, sharing your story, making it matter, and going out of your way to try something way off base from the norm tends to fail far more often than it succeeds. Because sometimes you find yourself looking…