Tag: essays


  • 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…


  • Entertained to the Death of It

    • 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 viewers of Entertainment can’t look away and their bodies rot while they watch TV. Why read a book when you can scroll through Instagram? Why read the history of the news report when the headline gives you just enough to keep up at social hour? Why have a salad when you can get the…


  • Math as a Liberal Art

    • 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 problem with math – at least with math instruction – is that everything is presented as a problem to be solved, and there is one solution. It wouldn’t be until a seminar on etymology that I started to understand where my mathematical collapse begun.


  • Notes on: The Summer Cold

    • 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 drugs keep me upright and focused. Two parts Dexedrine, five parts dextromethorphan, three parts doxylamine, drink it down with some cold coffee and you’re good for the morning. It is nothing any sane doctor would recommend, but the hours melt away and the words pile up and the little checkmarks on my to-do list…


  • Notes on the Dead Reckoning

    • 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,…

    A decade ago, in a February, I was standing in knee high grass well before dawn on the side of a two-lane highway miles outside of Te Anau waiting for a ride. It is four in the morning and my body is stuck in that hungover moment where I can’t stomach the idea of eating…