A Year in Four Seasons: 2025 Was One Hell of a Ride
I went into this year wondering if I was about to make a terrible, terrible mistake. Did I? Well you’ll just have to keep reading.
Jared White
Expressively publishing on the open web since 1996.
Entranced by Portland, Oregon since 2017.
Hello and Welcome!
I’m Jared, an award-winning essayist, photographer, and podcaster who’s been commenting on and building for the web since Mosaic was a thing. (Yup, it’s true! 😆)
I like to travel around Portland 🌲 and the Pacific Northwest and write about mindful, ethical, indie-flavored creativity. 💖 In addition, I compose and produce retro-styled synth electronica. 🎹 🎶
This is my home base on the internet. I hope you enjoy browsing around! 📍
P.S. What am I doing now? That’s what the Now Page is for! ⏱
P.P.S. What’s my favorite (fill-in-the-blank)? Find out in About Me. 😃
Things I Do
It would seem I’m always but one step away from reaching for an endeavor to occupy my time with at any given moment. Besides what’s obviously available on this website…from Vibe Coded, a podcast about the perils of creative intellectual automation, to That HTML Blog, the fresh place to be to learn about developing “vanilla” web apps, there’s something for…well…somebody.
Welcome to the Jaredverse! 😌
Newest Posts
Dear Men, What is Preventing You from Looking Like…Aragorn?
The first installment in my new series on the lifelong struggle with Performative Masculinity and the storied images of manhood in pop culture past and present.
“The Beast in Me” Could Have Dazzled
“ Two damaged, possibly damaging people on a collision course with each other. The first two episodes of the show, which dwell at length on Jarvis and Wiggs as they feel each other out and take turns manipulating each other in a series of extended intimate chats, are gripping TV. Matthew Rhys imbues his cartoonish villain character with a kind of twitchy impulsiveness that makes him feel one degree less predictable than he might initially appear.
Claire Danes, for her part, returns fitfully to the Homeland well. Her chin near-constantly aquiver, Wiggs is always on the verge of tears, a woman deep, deep in the midst of a nervous breakdown. But, in her scenes with Jarvis, she comes alive, activating the lethal attentiveness and brazen disregard for danger that made her the prize-winning journalist we’re told she was.
This year has been a real mixed bag for me in terms of both #tvshows and films. Some gems, some thuds, and a few real stinkers.
The Beast in Me thankfully was not a stinker, nor even a thud. Alas, I wish I could call it a gem. It was merely good, which as Phillip Maciak points out for The New Republic might lead one to believe is just another sign of an industry-wide fall from grace; the beginning of the end of prestige television and its Golden Age of Streaming.
I’m not sure we need to stoop to such dramatic prognostication. Can’t we simply enjoy the undeniably fantastic performances by the lead actors, appreciate the arc of the story for what it is, admire the craft of the filmmaking (it was well-lit and beautifully shot) and leave it at that?
I think so. And yet…I still can’t help but wish this show had been more. More thrilling. More clever. More surprising. More thought-provoking once the TV has been switched off.
At least it impressed me more than some other shows in this sort of genre I’ve seen over the past couple of years. It definitely rises above the usual pablum you must wade through on today’s streamers. And for that, I am grateful.
Become the Best, Self-Actualized Version of Your Trillionaire Self
What happens to a man when he wakes up in the morning, listens to a meditation app, does a quick workout, takes a shower, and looks in the mirror…and also he’s a trillionaire?!
Way to go, my dude! Attaboy! You’re crushing it today! 💪
Seems completely ridiculous. 😂
My sense is that money, fame, power, success, art, family…none of it means a damn thing anymore. It’s like approaching the event horizon of a black hole. The forces of gravity will turn nature as you know it inside out. Nothing will make sense, because how could it; after all, if light cannot escape, how can your sanity?
Now it’s true nobody on earth is a trillionaire…yet. But it’s starting to feel like that day is coming soon. And to whet your appetite melt your brain, here are some crazy stats about crazy money:
- “If you had saved $10,000 every day since the first pyramids were built in Ancient Egypt, you would still only have a fifth of the average fortune of the world’s five richest billionaires.” (Global Citizen)
- “$1 trillion is roughly the same as the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Netherlands or Türkiye. It is enough money to buy up all the shares of ExxonMobil (XOM), McDonald’s (MCD), and Coca-Cola (KO)—and still have millions left over.” (Investopedia)
- “Twelve people under the age of 30 made Forbes’ 2022 list of the World’s Billionaires, including four Stanford dropouts, two food delivery magnates and a cryptocurrency whiz. Together, this rarefied group is worth $25.8 billion.” (Forbes)
- “In 2022, around 13.05 percent of all billionaires in the United States were female. In total, there were 735 billionaires in the United States in that year.” (Statista)
- “The odds of becoming a millionaire for middle-aged, college-educated Black Americans is 6.4%. For White Americans, it’s 21.5%.” (Financial Samurai)
I can’t claim to know much about the world of high #finance, but I’ll come right out and say it: I agree with people who believe it should literally be illegal to become a billionaire (let alone a trillionaire!). For that to have happened, many immoral and unethical things had to have happened to get you to where you are. Is it your fault or the system at large? A bit of both perhaps. All I know is that a world in which the middle-class is disappearing while the mega-rich get richer at a staggering rate is a world primed for societal collapse.
But don’t worry, Mr. Trillionaire. Your meditation app says with a few deep breathes and a purposeful, calm demeanor, you are ready to face the day and tackles any challenges which many lie ahead. Attaboy!
Stay in the Loop
Look, I get it. You already subscribe to too many newsletters. So much to keep up with. But guess what? I only send out a newsletter once a week. And if you‘re feeling curious, peruse the Creator Class archive. You might find something that resonates with you! It’s a great way to stay current with what I’m publishing, and newsletter recipients always get some extra insight just for them. So what are you waiting for? Let’s roll!
Podcast
A weekly show where we discuss the business, the art, the ethics of content creation on the open web. Hosted by Jared White.
Hey, So For How Long Has Open Source Been a Nazi Bar?
Unfortunately the world of open source technology is not immune to edgelord dank meme cosplay-fascist culture. Is this kind of behavior OK? Will we just continue to tolerate bullies running online communities? When is it time to speak up?
Photos
Latourell Falls, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge
#SilentSunday #OregonExplored
The most perfect timing ever for the light at Hidden Falls in Happy Valley 😍
#FallVibes #OregonExplored
Whoa! Peak fall color on an amazing #Portland walk 🙌
Videos
Rejuvenation After a Hard Year
It's become a tradition for me to spend time over the holidays on a trip up the Columbia River Gorge. No matter what the weather conditions may be (and I sure got lucky this time!), there's a stillness and a calm I feel whenever I'm here which is truly rejuvenating.
Midsummer Adventures at Mt. Hood
You can rarely go wrong visiting the tallest mountain in Oregon and a true jewel of the Cascades: Mt. Hood. This time, I visited in August 2023, taking the ski lifts up the slope from Timberline Lodge and then hiking back down while enjoying the epic views. Then I dropped by Trillium Lake for the first time. Wow! This location was definitely worth the hype. Gotta go back…
Popular Essays
Ice Cream, War Movies, Monochromatism, and Reclaiming My Identity
This year I want to make a bold statement with what I do and how I live—only this time not as a desperate attempt to appease a deity, but as a way of expressing the core values that make me Me.
The Three Vital Landmarks Along the Road to Success
There was a time not long ago when my life was in a major upheaval. Signs of online success were slim to none. I wasn’t sure if anyone out there would really care if I were suddenly Thanos-snapped out of existence. Yet the valuable lesson I came to learn during that dreadful time was how to become intrinsically motivated, the significance of value creation, and the trick of cultivating T-shaped skills.
The Web is the Opposite of Dead
It's taken a global pandemic for many of us to realize something profound about the web. It isn't just a technology which helps the world go around. Today, on a certain level, is IS the world.
What It’s Like to Live in Portlandia
This may sound like the craziest thing you’ve ever heard, but I watched a TV show called Portlandia and then I moved to Portland. No joke.
Getting Past the Pain of Starting Over
This is your chance. This is your time.
Is Social Justice in the Christian Gospel?
A critical examination of the Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel and what it means for America's culture war.
Why I Regret Not Taking a Sabbatical When I Was 25
I needed to take some time off work to think, to dream. Instead I listened to the advice of family and friends and charged into a new business opportunity. Was it successful? Was it an utter disaster? Read my story to find out.
The Calcification of Personality
Self-reflection may be good for the soul, but not when the issue is forced by a constant barrage of the opinions of others.
Parents: You're Not Going to Break Your Kids
When we have difficulties helping our children learn new skills or cope with the tumult of everyday life, it's tempting to want to blame ourselves. But we can choose to see the learning opportunity inherent in every emotional moment.
How to Get Your Life Out of a Crisis Narrative
Living daily as if everything around you is representative of constant warfare is a recipe for emotional and mental disaster. Trust me, I've been there.
Making the Mental Breakthrough that Depression is Rooted in Fear, Not Sadness
If you think as I did a couple years ago, you probably assume that people who struggle with depression must be sad a lot and just need to be cheered up or adopt a more positive attitude. Well, as I came to discover, that notion is dead wrong.
The Writing Legacy of Medieval Celts
Presenting two brilliant examples of the classic wit, spiritual depth, and surprisingly fresh language found in millennia-old Celtic verse
The Absurdity of Fatherhood
When you become a dad, it's much harder to stay stuck on self. Your kids won't let you.
