The benefits of writing first thing in the morning
Creativity / Habits

The benefits of writing first thing in the morning

I should have tried years ago what I tried yesterday: to write first thing after waking up. For years, I've started nearly every day: wake up, make the bed, cross the room and turn off the alarm within sixty seconds of it going off, then bathroom, then meditate followed by light stretching. All of that adds up to about an hour. Depending on the day, then I might do my morning calisthenics, eat, or other exercise. I only turn my phone off airplane mode after at least one hour of being awake. Starting with meditation starts the day well. It means starting with reflection, calm, and being proactive. I was reading some authors' descriptions of writing first thing and decided to try it. I wrote…

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August 29, 2026
Is peace possible when nations deplete?
Pollution and Depletion

Is peace possible when nations deplete?

I don't think I'm skipping too many steps in this question: Is peace possible when nations are depleting resources? I don't think it's possible in the long term. I've been looking. Please tell me if you see something I'm missing, though the possibility of stopping depleting seems to solve the problem. So far, as nations depleted resources, at least some of them could expand into new territory that had resources they lacked, usually arable land, access to ports, minerals, fresh water, forests, and such. For the past few centuries, fossil fuels and uranium could enable them to produce alternatives and substitutions for many resources, or to recycle some, to provide the service the resources provided. Today, there isn't much land that is arable or could…

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August 27, 2026
Another summer without air conditioning: 5 nights I woke up sweating. Hardly torture.
Hands on Practical Experience

Another summer without air conditioning: 5 nights I woke up sweating. Hardly torture.

Last winter I mentioned to someone how crazy and wonderful I found it that while the first 40F degree day in November or December feels unbearably cold, a 40F day in February after a few days or weeks below freezing feels balmy. I wondered to him out loud if the effect was psychological or physical. I forgot that he was a medical doctor. He told me the body does change things to adjust to different temperatures. If it adjusts to handle cold, it must be adjusting back from adjustments it made out of cold---that is, to warmth. I've found that the summer heat and humidity become more tolerable with exposure. We had a few days over 100F in late spring, if I remember right, but…

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August 26, 2026
Have I found the core of my book?
Awareness / Creativity

Have I found the core of my book?

After well over a year working on my new book, finding deeper parts, I find myself getting closer to the core. I don't know if there is one thing driving it, but I keep finding that things I thought were the core led to deeper things. I've shared before that I learned the core isn't environmentalism. It's not sharing science, education, or tips on what to do. Lately, people's reactions to some new concepts suggest that I'm onto something near a core. I see people learn many concepts that seemed important, yet not change behavior or their views that they were one of the good guys even as they spent more money that funded future extraction, lobbying, advertising, and politicians supporting these activities. Several people…

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August 25, 2026
Is the only way to reduce litter and garbage anywhere to overhaul American culture, maybe global? I guess we’ll have to do it then.
Habits / Pollution and Depletion / SIDCHAs

Is the only way to reduce litter and garbage anywhere to overhaul American culture, maybe global? I guess we’ll have to do it then.

Regular readers know I pick up litter every day, in particular in Washington Square Park, effectively my back yard. It's one of my sidchas. Today I must have arrived in the park just after a cleaning crew's shift because I saw almost no litter. Was I excited that the park might be clean for a day, even if just for when I happened to be there? No. Experience taught me not to be disappointed. I went with my computer to work. I knew if I sat and worked, then by the time I left, even a few minutes later, plenty of litter would arrive. I'm sure if I asked anyone if they littered, they'd all say no, but within a few minutes of sitting, I…

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August 24, 2026
This week’s selected media, August 23, 2026: The Once and Future World, The Case for a Debt Jubilee, Parents Keep Out, Thread of Liberty, American Leviathan
Tips

This week’s selected media, August 23, 2026: The Once and Future World, The Case for a Debt Jubilee, Parents Keep Out, Thread of Liberty, American Leviathan

This week I finished: The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be, by podcast guest J. B. MacKinnon: I read this book years ago, before recording the episodes with J. B. I reread it for the book club of the alumni of my workshop. It made a big impression on me then. I like it even more today. It was coincidental how timely it was as a counter to Julian Simon's work. This book illustrated the depletion and homogenization humanity has unleashed on the world. J. B. uses the term "ten percent world" to describe the amount of wildlife left. He portrays how earth used to be. It has never been static, but there was a lot…

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August 23, 2026
More of my park visit besides where they mugged me
Nature / Visualization

More of my park visit besides where they mugged me

Today I'm sharing a wonderful and beautiful post of Philadelphia where I grew up, near my the sledding hill of one of my TEDx talks, after two related serious posts about me visiting sites of violence and crime visiting on me from my childhood---One of the spots where I was mugged for a bike when I was a kid  and Another spot where a bike was stolen from me when I was a kid. Here are pictures of the path along Wissahickon Creek near where I grew up. Something about paths in woods and bubbling creaks appeals to me. The slideshow below shows the pictures I took while walking about a mile or two. There are about 50 pictures and I recommend letting it show…

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August 22, 2026
Another spot where a bike was stolen from me when I was a kid
Stories

Another spot where a bike was stolen from me when I was a kid

I was in Philadelphia yesterday, passed an important part of my childhood, and posted a picture of One of the spots where I was mugged for a bike when I was a kid. If you weren't raised in a place where you were targeted for violence and theft, it might seem unusual for someone to have had been mugged and multiple bikes stolen, among other violent crimes. Actually people ask me what I did to get mugged so many times---often people who would recoil or attack in anger if someone with a different identity were asked what they did to be victimized. Obviously, I didn't choose to victimized, so you'll have to find and ask my assailants why they attacked me. In any case, today…

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August 21, 2026
One of the spots where I was mugged for a bike when I was a kid
Stories

One of the spots where I was mugged for a bike when I was a kid

I've posted about the times I was mugged growing up. I also did a TEDx talk about the sledding hill near where I grew up. I think a lot of people see a white guy talking about growing up by a sledding hill at the end of the block and think, how privileged. For me, the parks and being mugged went together because I was mugged in the park near the sledding hill. Well, a bit of a walk from it, but on a bike path we went to as a family. I was visiting Philadelphia and went by the spot for the first time in a long time. The experience was more emotionally intense than I expected. Here's the spot: I think the wall…

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August 20, 2026
The Joy in Worthy Struggle
Creativity

The Joy in Worthy Struggle

I was talking to a friend. I shared the struggle in writing, including all the rewriting and editing. After I shared it, she asked, "What brings you joy?" I'm not sure if her question was related to what may have sounded burdensome. In the moment, I thought she was transitioning to something else, so I mentioned food. August means peaches and tomatoes are in season and, as usual, the combination of my volunteering and people who get free food not taking fresh food, means I get tons of free produce. It's unbelievably delicious this time of year. Later I looked back. Now I think her question was related to my talk about writing. Yes, it's work. I wish I could finish faster. I wish I…

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August 19, 2026
Extreme Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence
Addiction / Artificial Intelligence / Awareness

Extreme Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence

I'd been working on a post about how it may be that AI has no benefit, or negligible enough to round off to zero. I wasn't sure if I'd post it, but some recent statistics in Harper's Index prompted me to. I'll give some context, then the statistics, then the extreme views. Context Most people I've asked about AI who view it positively, by no means a representative sample, describe some use that they say helps them or would, like making slides for a presentation or write emails for them. They never mention people whose values they oppose using AI to help themselves. To be blunt, consider an issue you feel strongly about---possibly abortion or human rights abuses. Now consider that people who oppose your…

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August 18, 2026
Externalities versus violations of the Constitution
Freedom / Pollution and Depletion

Externalities versus violations of the Constitution

People call pollution an externality---that is, a cost imposed on someone who wasn't part of the choice. It may be an externality, but that identification misses a bigger point. It also violates the consent of the governed, deprives people of life, liberty, and property, and violates the Declaration and Constitution in other ways. Pollution is not just an economic issue. It's also political and the political ramifications are much greater. Violating the Constitution is important, especially when everyone in the nation does it, the government profits from it, politicians become corrupted by it, and more. If you don't fix the economic problem, money gets distributed not to those who solve problems best but to those who coerce the most. You distort the economy and inhibit…

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August 17, 2026
This week’s selected media, August 16, 2023: The Gates of Fire, Nuremberg, the Eternal Jew
Tips

This week’s selected media, August 16, 2023: The Gates of Fire, Nuremberg, the Eternal Jew

This week I finished: Gates of Fire, by podcast guest Steven Pressfield: The moment I finished listening to this novel, I restarted from the beginning and I'm a third of the way through my second time. I loved it, especially about halfway through, when the Spartan characters, way of life, and values start coming through. I loved The War of Art, but didn't cross over into Steven's fiction until a few months ago with The Arcadian and Man at Arms. I wrote about a section that hit me in Wounded Warriors, by Steven Pressfield, and Ourselves. Gates of Fire treated fear, love, duty, honor, masculinity, femininity, and other values in a way I don't know how to describe, but I'd say both subtly and head on. He broke a…

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August 16, 2026
858: Beth Bailey, the great-grandmother influencer leading the cleaning of Mérida, Mexico
Podcast

858: Beth Bailey, the great-grandmother influencer leading the cleaning of Mérida, Mexico

As a great-grandmother, Beth probably wouldn't describe herself as an influencer, but what else do you call it when videos of her go viral and prompt people to follow her? Longtime podcast listeners may remember episode 754: (Aunt) Trish Ellis and (Niece) Evelyn Wallace, part 1: Not Even Cancer Holds Her Back. We mentioned Beth, Evelyn’s mom and Trish’s sister. All three of them took the workshop. Beth and Evelyn also took my leadership and initiative courses that I offered to workshop alumni. Beth's initiative project was to pick up litter daily, but not just pick it up. She was inspired by an initiative she'd seen to restore pride in a community. For example, I pick up litter, but I just do it to clean…

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August 15, 2026
Environmentalists promote education, especially of children, distracting from effectiveness, part 2
Awareness / Education / Nature

Environmentalists promote education, especially of children, distracting from effectiveness, part 2

I posted yesterday about how Environmentalists promote education, especially of children, but it mostly delays action, pointing out how there has been plenty of education, especially of children, but effectively no action for generations. I should be more clear. Yesterday's post came from a book on economics. I also just finished The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, which is relevant. Consider Europe in 1939 and 1940. Fascism is spreading. Hitler is invading nation after nation and taking them over. Should France, England, and the rest of the allies responded by teaching children about the problems of fascism and Nazism in 1940? Well, sure, I guess to some extent kids should learn about those problems, but it's not exactly the top tactic in the moment. I wouldn't oppose…

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August 14, 2026
Environmentalists promote education, especially of children, but it mostly delays action
Awareness / Education / Nature

Environmentalists promote education, especially of children, but it mostly delays action

Want to know a great way to delay action? Promote education, especially of kids. I'm not saying don't educate kids. Just don't kid yourself into thinking it's action. A passage in Julian Simon's The Ultimate Resource 2 a couple weeks ago clarified the point. I quote a few parts below, but here's the gist: The book came out in 1996, thirty years ago. As he notes, people were plenty educated about our environmental situation then. He described education of youth then, as well as going back another quarter century before it. They were plenty educated a quarter century before too. The adults of his time weren't acting despite having been educated. The kids educated then are adults not acting today. The problem isn't a lack of education,…

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August 13, 2026
Some writing challenges
Art / Creativity

Some writing challenges

I have written a dozen or two introductions to my book. Never do I consider any of them practice. Each feels perfect as I conceive of it before writing. I take care to write each one as best I can. As I write, I think it will draw the reader in, engage them, and inspire. Then as I write more, I realize there's more to it. I have to explain. Try as I might to avoid including anything unnecessary, I find it doesn't work. I keep trying to see if I can through editing it improve it. I work with it for days, weeks, even a month. Next thing I know, I'm lying awake in bed, a new approach coming to me. I know that…

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August 12, 2026
Volunteer Discipline
Stories / Volunteering

Volunteer Discipline

The rule on volunteering with the group I volunteer with is that when you sign up for a shift, you're responsible to clear all the food the place is donating that day. You might recall I pick up overstock food from stores that would otherwise throw it away. We bring it to places that distribute it to hungry and poor people. I used to deliver it to an outdoor community fridge in Chelsea, but you know how people are with free stuff. They argue over it, drop it on the ground and leave it, and otherwise behave in ways that prompt neighbors to complain. After a while, the church hosting the outdoor fridge had to stop hosting it. Still a community of people who used…

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August 11, 2026
Heartbreaking: A seventh grade teacher on parents supporting students cheating with artificial intelligence
Addiction / Artificial Intelligence / Relationships

Heartbreaking: A seventh grade teacher on parents supporting students cheating with artificial intelligence

A friend teaches seventh grade English. I'd read about teachers struggling with students cheating with artificial intelligence, so I asked her about her classes. She teaches at a prestigious Manhattan private school. For context, here are some articles on a publicized case: From Inside Higher Ed: Brown Professor Suspects Majority of His Class Used AI to Cheat From CBC: A U.S. prof suspects most of his students used AI to cheat. It's a growing concern here, too From Fortune: 'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating From El Pais: Professor denounces mass AI fraud on an exam at Brown University: ‘Academic integrity is at risk’ She said the students cheat like it's normal. She…

2 Comments
August 10, 2026
If we want an energy transition we don’t need more so-called “renewable”. We need less fossil fuels, which we aren’t doing.
Pollution and Depletion / Visualization

If we want an energy transition we don’t need more so-called “renewable”. We need less fossil fuels, which we aren’t doing.

I came across these graphs and had to share them because they reveal how counterproductive the plans of many environmentalists are, at least those who keep saying how percentages of so-called "clean," "green," or "renewable" energy sources are increasing. Wind, solar, and electric vehicles may pollute, deplete, and misappropriate less than fossil fuels, but less than fossil fuels doesn't mean zero. But for the sake of discussion, lets' imagine they were clean, green, and renewable. The plots below show that humans are using as much oil and fossil fuels as ever. Only using less fossil fuels uses less fossil fuels. Using more solar doesn't reduce the pollution, depletion, or misappropriation of oil. When we add back that they do pollute, deplete, and misappropriate, we gain…

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August 5, 2026
857: Kim Stanley Robinson: Science fiction writing and leadership
Podcast

857: Kim Stanley Robinson: Science fiction writing and leadership

I met Stan in person at an event in Brooklyn. I had read Ministry for the Future a few years ago. He pointed out something I hadn't noticed since most people identify him as a science fiction writer. Ministry for the Future isn't exactly science fiction. He projects into the future, but he only includes plausible things---no flying cars or time travel. This practice invigorated my interest in his work. I also asked him how he handled water in New York 2140, since I knew it would have to be heavily polluted from sea level rise would flood landfills and cause their contents to disperse throughout the oceans. I enjoyed talking to him and invited him here. He has another identify besides as an author. He knows a…

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August 4, 2026
Syringes on a Sunday afternoon, following doof on a Sunday morning
Addiction / Doof / Pollution and Depletion

Syringes on a Sunday afternoon, following doof on a Sunday morning

I haven't posted about finding syringes and people shooting up in a while. Last fall or winter the city decided to increase the police coverage of Washington Square Park and the neighborhood. Nobody thinks it decreases the use of fentanyl and other drugs of despair, but they moved it away from this particular park. Yesterday afternoon, while picking up litter in the park, I saw a couple syringes, the first I saw in that park in several months. This tree happens to be close to the temporary police office, sort of a mobile home parked by the northwest corner of the park. The park is like my neighborhood's back yard. Who wants discarded used syringes in their back yard? Yesterday morning started with other addiction,…

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August 3, 2026

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