Thoughts
The stream of thinking
Not a feed. A record of what passed through one mind, in the order it arrived.
Transactions Aren't Experiences
I have a question for practically every business in America. When did buying something become an experience? Because apparently, I can no longer walk into a store, purchase what I need, and leave without somebody wanting to know how the experience made me feel.
Why the Hell Are We Still Working Like It's 1926?
It's 2026, and you can sit at a desk surrounded by computers, with multiple 32-inch monitors, dozens of browser tabs, several artificial intelligence systems processing different instructions simultaneously, and images rendering while you're working on something entirely unrelated.
I Wish I Had Been Sober Before My Boys Were Born
There's something I've been struggling to put into words lately, and I think it's because I'm only now beginning to understand what it means. I wish I had gotten sober before my children were born. Not a few months before, or even a year before, but five years before.
I Think We've Made It Too Expensive to Be Poor
I've been thinking about something that seems completely backward when you really examine it. We live in a country where having more money often allows you to pay less for the things you need, while having less money can force you to pay more for those exact same things.
We Have More Information Than Any Generation in History. Why Are We So Easy to Fool?
I can sit on my couch and access scientific research, historical documents, medical journals, government records, and more information than I could possibly consume in several lifetimes. If somebody makes a questionable claim, I can usually begin investigating it within seconds.
The More Certain Someone Sounds, the More Questions I Have
I've noticed that the people who sound the most certain about something aren't necessarily the people who understand it the best. Sometimes they're incredibly knowledgeable, and their confidence is justified with a piece of knowledge from schooling, residencies or experience.
Apparently, Eight-Year-Olds Can't Manipulate Anyone
I had a conversation with my son's therapist today that left me wondering whether we've reached a point where we're so afraid of using certain words that we've started denying perfectly ordinary aspects of human behavior. I was told that children aren't capable of manipulation.
I Keep Making Plans for a Man Who Doesn't Exist
I've realized that I have an incredibly unrealistic opinion of how much energy I'm going to have tomorrow. Apparently, somewhere in my mind, there's a version of me who wakes up completely refreshed, has nothing unexpected happen, and enthusiastically completes everything I've been putting off.
The Pictures Look Like We Had a Great Time
If I had posted pictures from our weekend in Chicago on Facebook, you would probably think we had an incredible family vacation. Beautiful city, great food, smiling kids, fun attractions, and a family of four making memories together.
What If I'm the Only One Who Remembers?
I've been thinking about something that I don't remember our parents ever having to consider. We now have the ability to document almost every second of our children's lives, and somehow that has created an entirely new kind of guilt.
I Want My Boys to Ask Me to Be Their Best Man
Not literally, but I want them to feel that connected with their Dad. I had a shitty childhood. I've spent most of my adult life trying to understand what it did to me, how much of it I've managed to overcome, and how much of it is still living somewhere inside my head.
I Bought It. Why Can't I Fix It?
I think we've reached a ridiculous point in consumer culture where purchasing something doesn't necessarily mean you have much control over it. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a product, bring it home, use it for years and eventually discover that repairing it requires permission from the company that sold it to you.
We Keep Asking People to Fix Problems We Already Know How to Solve
I've been thinking about how much time we spend discussing problems that aren't particularly mysterious. We know why some neighborhoods have abandoned buildings. We know why schools struggle to provide things that should be basic.
Nobody Needed Me.
Parenting is fucking exhausting. It is loud and repetitive and stressful in ways I don't think I understood before having kids. You can love two people more than anything on earth and still desperately want them to stop saying your name for five minutes.
Nobody Owns the Seat
Local politics piss me off sometimes. Not because people disagree. They should.
Ownership Without Responsibility
There is a question on Springfield's ballot this fall about creating a landlord registry, inspection and licensing program. It is an advisory referendum, which means voting for it doesn't instantly create the final system.
A Corporation Doesn't Need a Bedroom
I learned two numbers recently that I keep putting next to each other. The latest federal count found 745,652 people experiencing homelessness in the United States on a single night, including 266,320 who were unsheltered.
I Think My Kids Believe I Know How to Do Everything
My kids are still young enough to believe I possess a completely unreasonable range of abilities. Something breaks and they bring it to me. They want something built and ask if I can make it.
I Have No Idea What My Kids Are Going to Remember
I have been thinking about how terrible adults are at predicting what children will remember. We plan the big stuff because we assume the big stuff is what sticks: vacations, birthdays, Christmas mornings, special outings, the things that require tickets or reservations or several hours of preparation.
The Ordinary Stuff Is the Stuff I Almost Lost
I used to think the important parts of life would be obvious when they happened. Birthdays, weddings, vacations, first days of school, Christmas mornings, the things you take pictures of because everyone understands they are supposed to matter.
My Kids Have Never Had Fast Food
My kids are six and eight years old, and other than one very specific exception, they have never had fast food. About three years ago my oldest became student of the month and his teacher rewarded him with a Happy Meal.
I Think I Actually Knew What I Was Doing
I stood in a garden center this week looking at a hosta with only one sprout coming out of the pot. It was $16.99.
Maybe There Was Never an Order
For most of my childhood, I believed there were certain things that simply had to happen. Every summer, I went away for six weeks. I never thought of it as a decision anyone was making or something I could question.
Thirty-Four Dollars
I think I have officially ruined garden centers for myself. I spent about twenty dollars on two big mums, brought them home, and immediately stopped seeing them as two plants. The white one could be split.