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Why is This Fun? And Other Important Life Questions You Should Ask Yourself Regularly
There’s a cowboy culture in Texas that consists of games where you prove your worth through machismo. They call this a “rodeo,” but really it is men competing with men for who is dumber. They prove dominance over animals and battle for “strength” with games like “how long can you stay on top of a (…)
Why Open AI ChatGPT Will Not Ruin Writing, But We Will
This is my least favorite topic at the moment because, well, outrage is profoundly boring to me. But enough people have asked me to comment on ChatGPT so here we are. Am I worried about it. What are my thoughts. What will happen to writing and writers and original thought! I’ll start with the punchline: (…)
Clear is Kind: Why You Should Endure The Discomfort of Being Direct
There is no such thing as a friendly reminder. “Friendly reminders” are passive-aggressive roundabout ways of avoiding direct communication and clarifying your position. There are fascinating reasons why we do this, which Dr. Harriett Lerner, Patron Saint Of All Things Anger, talks about in detail here. The gist is that many of us avoid conflict (…)
Decent Human Beings
Out of nowhere, I heard a crash. Two books came tumbling down from the bookshelf. I have no idea how. Nothing moved, no one touched them, there wasn’t an earthquake. I was on the other side of the room. Everyone knows that if books are gonna fall from the sky (err— my bookshelf) you must open (…)
In Defense of Working Hard
The internet exploded over the following line from Roxane Gay’s New York Times piece this week and I’m not sure I agree with the chord it’s striking in people: “The greatest shame would be to reach the end of our lives and have the epitaph read, ‘They worked really hard.’” I am aware Gay is arguing (…)
Take Care of Your Self
Self-help is a notoriously garbage category, so I wanted to share some of the books I have on my “approved” list as we enter into gifting season. These books are rooted in strong data and credible expertise, without being so heavy and academic that they are unintelligible. If you are looking for information on psychology (…)
Shutting Down The Food Company I Never Started
The Ginger Route was going to be a clean food company. Then it was going to be a blog. No, sorry, a platform! Ginger Route had many iterations all of which live in perpetuity in a notebook somewhere in my office. I worked on that “business” for longer than I care to admit here in public. It’s (…)
The Privilege of Dreaming
About 90 years ago, my great-grandfather brought my great-grandmother from a small farm town to The Big City. And then he promptly left. Started a new family with another woman. And was never heard from again. My grandmother was eight-years-old. I don’t know if my great-grandmother had dreams beyond getting herself out of a terrible (…)
But What If It Works?
Few things are more effective at eradicating a bad mood than a good movie involving unrealistically beautiful people. So when I found myself in a bad mood a few months ago, I chose on a title with Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy and proceeded to get cozy with what I thought would be 122 minutes (…)
Can You “Make” Someone Feel Something?
One of the core principles of Stoicism is accepting responsibility. Accepting responsibility for how you feel, what you did, and what happened. “Blame yourself or blame no one.” – Mr. Marcus Aurelius is famous for having said. As someone who over-indexes on self-blame, I have a bone to pick with Mr. Aurelius on this one. (…)