February 2015

A Different Sort of Carpentry

2016-12-28T21:37:55+00:00February 8th, 2015|Life, Tech|

A fine wooden desk sits in my room. It’s one of a number that my grandfather refinished. This was his hobby: hunting from one yard sale to the next; eyeing cast-off, beaten-up furniture and evaluating by a checklist only he could see; setting each new acquisition on his workshop operating table; and emerging months later with something reinforced, refinished, and utterly transformed. He was an artist. When I knew I was bound for DC, I drove the desk 400 miles north with me.

Same as I know the desk is something special, I also suspect it’s something I’ll never make. I’m not “handy;” I’ve met only a few people from my generation who are. “Handiness”—the ability look at a problem, rifle through a toolbox, and know immediately how to solve it—seems for a lot of us to be going the way of calligraphy, dedicated photography, or even the humble hometown newspaper. With stuff both cheaper and more complicated, buying another is easier than repairing the one you have.

But before mourning Millennials’ callous abandonment of skills once thought integral to the life of an industrious man or woman (carpentry! canning! sewing!), it’s worth considering what we’ve learned in their stead. This is an interesting exercise: often times, something doesn’t even seem like a “skill” until you meet someone who can’t do it.

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December 2014

Partying with Shakespeare

2016-12-28T21:37:55+00:00December 17th, 2014|Life|

Wayne Bailey passed away December 17, 2014.

“I have borne a charm’d life with you,” the Bard said. “Your counsel hath guided my every footstep; driven me to dare and gamble and seize the day; taught me temperance and delivered me wisdom where too often I had none. But why not tarry longer? Why go thither; why go now?“

The pair stood in the grand old Globe, the ground about the stage still littered after a particularly raucous show of “Much Adoe.” One man, the Bard, furrowed his brow in worry. The other, the traveler Wayne (once a barrister by trade, but always a teacher at heart) smiled serenely, one hand resting on the device that would whisk him away to parts unknown.

Over the years, Wayne had skipped in and out of the Bard’s life often, a friend and mentor who always seemed to emerge at the right place and time. It was Wayne who had first suggested, with a twinkle in his eye, that the Bard try his hand at plays. It was Wayne who had laid the Globe’s cornerstone into place. It was even Wayne who had stayed up long nights with the Bard, splitting tankards and rewriting and reciting the sonnets of Othello and Puck and Macbeth until they sang. And now he was leaving.

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August 2014

People Are Talking About ALS Now. It’s About Time.

2016-12-28T21:37:55+00:00August 25th, 2014|Life, Tech|

My grandmother was a strong, stubborn woman, part Irish and part Pennsylvania Dutch, raised amid the worst of the Great Depression. She didn’t take kindly to anything that slowed her down, and this included the early symptoms of ALS.

By the time the formal diagnosis came, the disorder was moving very quickly. In rapid succession, she lost the ability to climb down stairs; to walk; to sit up; to talk at all. During one of our last visits, I can remember marveling at the steely determination she showed as she raised her hand and pointed.

She became good at pointing. She pointed when she wanted something done; she pointed when she wanted you to know she loved you. The effort she summoned to make this small gesture was the same amount a healthy person might muster to climb a mountain.

She died in 1998 of an unrelated cause, shortly after she lost the ability to swallow. To the end, she remained sharp. It was only her body that failed her.

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June 2014

New York, or the Feeling That Something’s Missing

2016-12-28T21:37:56+00:00June 4th, 2014|Life|

It’s very easy to make fun of New York and the artists who flock to it.

Ironic fixed gears; misappropriated plaid; male cutoffs and career baristas; an excess of profound utterances and an absence of thought. Add to this well-practiced angst, deep-rooted entitlement, and basically most of the shit on Girls.

But of course, this is a stereotype. While it carries a kernel of truth, it’s also a mean-spirited exaggeration, levied by certain groups of people against something alien and unknown.

It also comes from a place of fear: financiers and everyday breadwinners and government-minded folks like me, residing in a world of material cause and effect, do not want to allow the thought that these people with their heads in the clouds have found a way to live life better. We can’t allow the thought, at least without also questioning whether our own paths are the right ones.

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May 2014

Time, and the Lack of It

2016-12-28T21:37:56+00:00May 17th, 2014|Life|

Where does it all go? This is a question I suspect many people ask themselves as they get a little older. It’s certainly something I’ve been asking myself.

There was a point, not very long ago, when the college rhythm of constant coursework and extracurricular commitments seemed about as tough as it could get. With the exception of the occasional superhuman, most folks approached undergrad like some giant juggling contest, where you couldn’t necessarily be sure of everything you had in the air at any given time. You could be fairly confident, however, that things would work out in the end.

The time after graduation – and entry into the working world – is different. You’re no longer in a bubble, where a few dropped balls and SNAFUs kind of come with the territory. Now, you’re playing for keeps. If you make a commitment, you better follow through, or have a damn good reason why you didn’t. If you follow through but half-ass it, the consequences can be even worse.

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January 2014

Currahee

2016-12-28T21:37:56+00:00January 12th, 2014|Life|

This is a short tale about a mountain I tried to run up, twice. TL;DR, the mountain kicked my ass.

First off, let me tell you about Currahee. It’s a 1,700 foot monster, sticking up just south of the Blue Ridge mountains and, by extension, the entire Appalachian chain. It’s the biggest, baddest mountain anywhere close to where I grew up.

It’s also eminently runnable and happy to break your body and spirit, as the boys of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne discovered in this remarkably well preserved archival footage (after the jump).

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Interesting Times

2016-12-28T21:37:56+00:00January 9th, 2014|Life, Tech|

“May you live in interesting times,” goes the ancient, subtly backhanded, vaguely oriental curse. The phrase is, in fact, likely a fabrication of a 20th century British imperialist, but it’s still a great saying so let’s just roll with it.

The word “interesting,” before it became a de facto placeholder to deploy in event of any awkward pause, actually had some nuance. It means “engaging the attention or regard” but in a uniquely subdued way. It’s a word that invites thoughtful pause in lieu of immediate action. Something “interesting” is almost never wholly good and can frequently be bad, hence the curse part.

While every generation generally believes that they have it the hardest yet and that their challenges are unprecedented, I think Millennials/Gen Y have something new to alternately brag and complain about: the years into which we’ve come of age really are the most complex, mind-boggling, abstract, and interesting in human history. Successfully navigating this flurry of social and technological change will be the task of our lifetimes and entirely determine the fate of those generations who come after us.

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December 2013

What Makes a Good Blog?

2016-12-28T21:37:57+00:00December 28th, 2013|Life|

Too often, I’ve found myself with a ton of things I want to write but no good place to put them. To fix this, I’ve decided to start a blog. This website is the result.

Having studied a wide range of blogs and personal websites in preparation for launching my own, there are a few guiding principles I plan to abide by. By sticking to them, I hope to carve out a corner of the internet worth visiting.

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