At an art show recently, I was looking at a painting that caught my eye and attention. It was of a beach or shallow ocean, viewed underwater so you could see the waves from below, with the sun filtered and refracted through it, echoing the waviness of the sea floor. Here’s a similar piece by the artist, though online doesn’t match the beauty in person: As I looked at it,[…] Keep reading →

I found an article in the Philadelphia Encyclopedia about Mount Airy, where I grew up, “a national model of racial integration, ” created through generations of conscious, deliberate work by residents, against opposing trends the article describes below, including white realtors trying to redline and black leaders trying to protect “blackness.” My mom, dad, and stepfather participated in several institutions promoting Mount Airy’s values mentioned in the article, especially West[…] Keep reading →

About a year ago I started writing the first draft of my next book. If you count earlier iterations that only led to refining the outline and restarting, I probably started six months earlier, not that I kept track. I had finished my first draft a few months later, spring 2021. I knew when I started writing my second non-self-published book, Initiative, that I would write my next book on[…] Keep reading →

I’ve never cared much one way or the other about kombucha. I’ve tasted it once or twice, but it comes packaged, so I avoid it. I’ve been making vinegar for a while from apples and water, sometimes adding sugar, since I have some a neighbor left when he moved. The vinegar tastes delicious and has resulted in a bunch of the yeast and bacteria cultures that grow as I pass[…] Keep reading →

On November 25, Thanksgiving, I posted Tomorrow is Buy Nothing Day. Make it Buy Nothing Season. Give the gift of your presence and attention. Most Americans consider the next day Black Friday, a day to buy things. I consider it Buy Nothing Day, a day to buy nothing. I ended up buying something Thanksgiving, which prompted me to consider going for longer than one day and try to make it[…] Keep reading →

When I pick up litter from a pile or collection, I don’t always pick up all of it. I imagine conversations in my head if someone asked why I left some. Sometimes the drug users in Washington Square Park will point me to pieces I didn’t pick up. I think they feel like they’re doing me a favor, maybe based on thinking I like picking up trash just because and[…] Keep reading →

The average American watches 5 hours of TV per day. Many fly or drive around for fun. If we want to pollute less, will we lose the ability to enjoy ourselves? I’ve written before how Vincent Stanley‘s commitment to turn off his computer Friday mornings and Nicola Pirulli‘s walking me through The Spodek Method led to me turning off all my electronics and practicing singing daily. Since starting, I’ve missed[…] Keep reading →