The Only Home of Whatever It Is

Bye-bye dot net, hello dot org

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:00 +0000

So for no good reason, I switched from my old dot net domain name to my new-to-me (although I’ve had it for ten years now) dot org domain name. I think I had mistakenly thought dot org suffixes were for non-profits–which was a valid category under it, but Wikipedia suggests “[t]he domain was originally ‘intended as the miscellaneous TLD for organizations that didn’t fit anywhere else.’” Fair enough, and kind of on-brand for me. I’m certainly not primarily involved in networking or commercial enterprise, even if I’ve reserved those domain names as well.

Nobody Wants to Discuss Anymore

Sat, 23 May 2026 15:00:00 +0000

It’s almost impossible for me to post on incomplete thoughts as I work through them. I’d rather discuss them and develop the idea, and yet the tendency is for folks to argue instead. It’s one thing if someone understands what I’m saying but offers a countering point of view, but it’s quite another when they’re spoiling for a fight and want to be right. In opinion, precious few things are beyond dispute anyway.

Hating the Mother's Day Holiday

Sat, 09 May 2026 15:00:00 +0000

I really do hate this time of year. I’m not a parent by choice, and I have a mother I do not celebrate. I hate how I’m bombarded with ads chock full of glurgy schlock deifying mothers in general. If you’re like me, those ads are annoying, offensive, and present an image inconsistent with the reality.

Look, the entrance qualification for parenthood is biological: get knocked up or knock somebody up. It’s not in itself something for someone else to celebrate. What earns kudos is how the person/people perform the job of raising that child to adulthood. That is to say, celebrate someone being a good parent. Not everyone gets even a passing grade there, but I suppose highlighting that fact wouldn’t sell as many flowers and greeting cards.

I’m sure my mother did her best, but she should not have procreated. She’d have been better off spending all that money on therapy instead of foisting those unexamined issues onto her children. Instead, children for her were possessions intended to provide validation. Time and time again, anything that required her to step up with actual parenting (gasp sacrifice) was minimized or ignored. Mom taught us that it was the appearance that mattered, not the reality. As a result, my brothers and I are all emotional messes.

Anyway. You all have “mothers” too I’m sure. I just am tired of the put-them-on-an-unearned-pedestal holiday that purports to guilt us into honoring a person who might not deserve it.

Brand Accounts vs. Personal Accounts

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

I think some folks get it twisted when they can’t remember if they’re trying to broadcast to the masses or communicate one on one. I don’t think you can do both with a single account, and there comes a point when you switch from one mode to the other, no take-backsies.

When someone’s talking to a wide audience they’ve intentionally built, I have zero idea why they’re still taking each interaction seriously. Trolls come out when you are gathering attention to yourself, because they want a piece of yours and your audience’s. If you get mad, well, troll gets fed.

Don’t read the comments, or at least take them no more seriously as the median follower of your big account takes you.

If You Don't Have Anything Good to Say

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Not a lot to say lately. I’m very, very disappointed in quite a few people.

No Shortage of Smart Men Tripping Up

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

It’s been nearly twenty years since I first heard the expression, but it’s evergreen: there’s no shortage of “really smart” guys tripped up by their ego or their dick.

I’d heard it in a presentation at a conference. A forensic investigation firm was talking about dealing with an insider threat against a public figure. After being identified (or suspecting they were close), that person fled to a non-extradition country ahead of being caught. The investigators were able to entice the person with a lucrative job offer to leave that country for one where he could be arrested. “You super genius, you’re so smart, come work for us and show us how you did it.” Oh noes, they weren’t serious and the guy went to prison.

An incredulous audience member asked how someone could be so stupid, especially if they knew they’d been identified as doing crimes but had successfully gotten away. The aforementioned quote was the reply, and nothing has changed in the nature of “really smart” men since then.

The VR Future I Want

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

I want the ability to travel virtually through the world’s museums, as well as the world’s cities to see significant architecture, etc. through a VR headset. I want the ability to choose the venue or category similarly to on-demand video selection. (Would I rather travel there? Yes. Is there a cure for long covid yet? No.)

I want to be able to get close to the artwork in the same way as one would want to in life. I want to be able to enjoy these things without my fellow humans–or perhaps just digital ones around me for flavor who won’t disturb my experience. I want to linger as long as I want to. I want to juxtapose experiences–why not have famous sculptures from around the world in a giant sculpture garden of my choosing?

Why can’t we be enabling that?

Oops

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Looks like I forgot to blog in January. Holidays can be tough, and these political times leave me with fewer things to say. I’m still around, and I’ll try and write some more expanded “this should have been a blog post” entries in the days to come. It may almost be mid-February, but Happy New Year!

Protecting the Creative Spark

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Watching an interview with a music producer right now, and he’s expressing how he’s able to access his own vulnerability to make the kind of art that’s only accessible once you have. I’m not jealous–I celebrate anyone who made it to adulthood with their vulnerability intact and are still functional. If someone’s art comes from that place, I celebrate it even if it’s not my cup of tea. Often the sense of someone really going for it translates even if you can’t follow them entirely.

I remember being able to access that place and create before I had the certitude of inevitable rejection. When I didn’t find a home for those ideas with family, peers, or (what) friends, after giving up the struggle I elected to close that door. While I think you can reopen it, you’re never going to be able to regain what was lost, which for me is the excitement of sharing something you’ve created without needing to protect against being hurt for it.

I'm Good, Thanks

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Every now and then, I have little daydreams about what it’d be like to be someone/something other than what I am. Think famous or any number of other fantasies like being uber-attractive, mega-wealthy, musically exceptional, etc., the kinds of things that require luck and genetics as well as the hard work and persistence.

In truth, I’m curious about it because I have no idea what it would be like. I don’t stop traffic when I walk on the street. I don’t have staff planning my every move and taking care of the small details. I don’t have hordes of fickle fans or media people who’re waiting for my next emanation to guide their lives or those of their readers.

To be clear, I don’t want to be that kind of person. I never did. I have good reasons for why I am who I am, where I am, doing what I do. I know deep-down that I don’t want that kind of attention, and in all likelihood I wouldn’t handle it well. I don’t have the performer gene. I also know that problems are merely different in the situations I describe, not nonexistent.