I expect to log into Facebook once more — to message my connections there that they won’t be able to find me there, why, and where to find me instead — then I’ll leave for good. Why leave? I knew I wanted to leave after Facebook made its privacy policy too intrusive for my tastes. I felt they had too much control over my personal data. Facebook is creepy, getting[…] Keep reading →

By any measure of speeches or leadership, Martin Luther King’s “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam” must rank highly, no matter what your thoughts on the politics of the situation. The text (text here) is eloquent, erudite, colorful, and informative. His delivery was rousing, engaging, inspiring, and on par with any other of his speeches. (The link in case the video isn’t showing — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGsVvnvA9w) As effective[…] Keep reading →

Everybody agrees nobody is perfect. We all have our faults. Yet some emerge as leaders and outstanding successes. I’ve come to believe leaders lead and successes succeed not in spite of their faults or weaknesses, but because of them. The things themselves don’t matter as much as the emotions we attach to them. Attach shame to something inherent about you and people will see a part of you as shameful.[…] Keep reading →

I see inequality based on sex, skin color, and other lines in my society, yet I’ve met almost no one who overtly supports sexism, racism, or other lines. And among sexist, racist, or otherwise divisive people, most seem motivated out of ignorance, which seems easily remedied. Usually I say that systems perpetuate inequality so people who participate in those systems inadvertently support them. I recently noticed an odd effect that[…] Keep reading →

Nearly everyone who has eaten with me in my neighborhood knows Benny’s Burritos is my favorite place (though they took my favorite dish off the menu again — the bowl of vegetarian chili). Spring must be here because they put the outdoor tables out. This patron, Winston, was too cute not to take his picture. Maybe it’s not what I normally blog about but can you really complain?

Today’s post was supposed to be silly. I’ve been meaning to write it for a while. Once I started writing it it got more interesting, at least to me. Some people make a big deal about grammar. They don’t like when sentences end in prepositions or you use words like irregardless. I call people like that annoying. I don’t think they realize the main point of communication is to convey[…] Keep reading →

I’ve written about raising your awareness of your mental chatter (aka self-talk, internal monologue, voice of judgment, etc) and learning to voice it. I call both of those activities passive. You can also work actively with your mental chatter. Passive awareness and voicing of your mental chatter helps. In my experience going from unawareness to passive awareness improved my understanding of how my mind worked as much as anything. The[…] Keep reading →