Lights of the cistern
A long short story.
fiction
The Well Within the Rock
I live on a rock in the middle of the ocean. It's not a very big rock. Nor is it a very colourful rock. It would appear to be two or three tones of dark grey. That is how I see it on the days that I go
fiction
The Referral
"When did the pain start?" "I don’t know. I guess, like, a few months ago." "And it’s as if there’s a tapping on your eardrum?" "No, it’s like, it’s more like it’s a drum being hit."
fiction
Define: Sardonic
"Do you think being sardonic is a requisite of getting older?" "What the hell does sardonic mean?" Jeremy asked. He picked at the grass on the hillside and threw it into the air. "I think it means sarcastic. Or no, maybe just like cynical. Sometimes
fiction
The other side of distraction
Happy new year.
reflection
Advice columnist for one
As I've been pushing myself to write more intimately about creative processes, slice of life experiences, and vulnerability, I've started to see my own writing as sounding like thinly-veiled advice columnist writing. I did not see that coming. And not coincidentally, I'm starting to
reflection
Never from scratch
I've long been inspired, fascinated, and curious about artists who can create, create, create, but never return to obscure or bury their past. For myself, and I think for many other aspiring creative minds, lurks the temptation to start fresh in our self-presentation. As we progress in our
creativity
Counting Priorities
Priorities are like arms. If you think you have more than a couple, you're either lying or crazy. - Merlin Mann (source) Take a moment and ask yourself: what are my priorities? Perhaps, like me, you’ve walked decades on this earth and never really asked yourself this
meaning
Phone Crossed Lovers
Arm in Arm, Neck hinged uncomfortably.
reflection
It depends what your goal is
A simple, uncomfortable statement that stops me in my tracks.
reflection
I don't know how to problem solve
Turning, turning, turning away in the machine.
reflection
Don't Pick a Lane
Blogging is strange. Creating content on the internet at large is strange. I often find myself wishing I saw it all as I did two decades ago: then, I was free of the poisonous drive of associating any sense of "success" to what had been written. It was
reflection
Just Call
Your phone is ever-present; your loved ones will not be.
communication
Our efforts, in part, define us
What happens when something we enjoy doing that took effort becomes effortless? And what happens if that original effort was a foundation on which we saw value in ourselves? If our efforts, in part, define us, then our efforts have intrinsic value. Our efforts may help us understand a position
meaning
Limitless Encouragement
You were born with a limitless supply of encouragements. Use every one of them. Last winter I noticed this small, innocuous bit of paper taped to a neighbourhood post-board. On it were the words I have quoted above. It sticks with me to this day and comes to mind frequently.
meaning
Bad Sleep Scores and Good Sleep Aids
I’ve been sick for a couple of days now, and so the "sleep scores" presented by my watch are abysmal. My first night, I was feverish. I dreamt that I had to relearn the alphabet, but I had to do it through my dreams, one letter per
health
Spark joy, throw everything out
A few weeks ago I was visiting some family in Guelph. After, I went for a short bike ride in the evening. I found myself at a Little Library in a corner of the city that I hadn’t explored before. Inside it, I found Spark Joy, a book by
posessions
Returning to Anki
Recently, I brought the spaced repetition system software Anki back into my life. For a while, between 2019 and 2023, I was using it frequently to practice learning French. Anki is a remarkable tool and allowed me to learn 5,000 French words (and a few other things too). What
learning
I don't look back much as a rule
I was thinking about journalling and the lyric "I don't look back much as a rule" came to me. It’s from the song "Pink Bullets" by The Shins. Go ahead, take a listen while I write up the rest of this post. Reducing
memory
Signs of positivity in Toronto
Signs of positivity have been hiding in plain sight around a few neighbourhoods in Toronto. I've been seeing these signs for at least a year, perhaps longer. Now that I'm back in the season of running and training for a race in the fall, I'
positivity
The Manga of Taiyo Matsumoto
hen I was a kid, someone in my family rented Spirited Away. I loved it. I hadn’t even known the name of the movie when I sat down to watch it. I was mesmerized. Afterward, I don’t think I ever asked, or thought to ask, if there were
comics
What do you wish you learned in school?
This is a question I've been thinking about. In fact, I thought about it so much for a few days, I considered interviewing people (lately, I've been enjoying interviewing people, in person). What if I interviewed 100 people and asked them what they wished they had
school
How to be inefficient
I've been considering adding more inefficiency in my life. It's time I embraced it. Instead of trying to be a finely tuned, get-things-done-machine, I could be a bit more human and exist between my tasks. Our careers shape our lives. Being a programmer for the last
reflection
How to be brief
Say less.
reflection
5-4-3-2-1
Have you heard of the 5-4-3-2-1 method? It's a mechanism for connecting to the present tense, especially for dealing with anxiety and overwhelming emotions. It goes like this: Ask yourself what are five things you can see right now? What are four things you can hear? What are
activism
Leave Ideas Be
Birds in daylight; bats at night.
reflection
What's 10k in Vegas?
I can't say I love Las Vegas. But I'm here. And I will say it's nice to be outside in a t-shirt after weeks of snow and ice in Toronto. I'm here for a work retreat, but I also came a day
running
A new favourite object
Extend the antenna. Touch the dials. Hear the speaker.
objects
Internet Radio
Don't touch that dial.
reflection
Single Purpose Devices
Travelling with a dumb camera.
reflection
Goodbye, Hackernews
In which I cease doomscrolling
programming
