Longtime readers know I switched from running to plogging, which led to a bunch of media doing stories on me. I can’t help sharing the stories. The earliest I found was 2018: Then no posts on plogging for almost five years. I didn’t run for a while because somewhere around there I tore the meniscus in my left knee and the insurance company made me do a year of physical[…] Keep reading →

The Washington Post‘s Climate Coach column by Michael Coren quoted me today. Scroll down in the image or pdf below and you’ll see my comments on an app designed for packaged food and doof. They had to edit for space (asking permission, of course). Here’s the full text I wrote: Hi, I recommend a solution I prefer to Yuka, which doesn’t work for me since I don’t buy packaged food.[…] Keep reading →

Sunday was the first warm day of the year. It was shorts weather. Do we celebrate the abundance of nature? No, that’s not today’s American values. What are today’s American values? You can tell by our behavior. We buy doof, not food. We don’t prepare it. We buy it pre-prepared, which means overloaded with salt, sugar, and fat, then packaged. We don’t even eat fresh fruit on its own. We[…] Keep reading →

In Monday’s post, Today’s blizzard, February 2026, I wrote how the blizzard led to another day when I could find no litter in Washington Square Park. As usual, even with over a foot of snow, I found plenty of litter and garbage elsewhere, but at least not in the park, which is like my back yard. That post shows several beautiful pictures of my neighborhood covered in virginal snow. In[…] Keep reading →

I used to be unable to resist craving for sweets and savory treats. Now I’m free from the doof industry’s deliberate strategy to addict people, or at least mostly so. Walking along Seventh Avenue, I saw this revolting sight: a trash can overflowing with pink boxes designed to look adorable and appealing. They say the name of the store creating this garbage: “Crumbl”. I see the store around. They make[…] Keep reading →

Two days ago I posted My first time since starting not finding litter in Washington Square Park, because over six inches of snow covered it. Since I committed to picking up at least three pieces per day until three days pass when I can’t find three pieces to pick up, I wondered if the snow would make it possible. I also offered to take any bets that people would litter.[…] Keep reading →

I lead a meditation group that meets in person a couple times a month. We’ve found we can get a laugh if we talk in the group about talking about meditation to others who don’t meditate by saying, “I can’t meditate. My mind is too crazy to empty it of thoughts,” or words to that effect. Why does it make us laugh? Because it’s like a knee-jerk reaction that betrays[…] Keep reading →

I’ve committed to picking up at least three pieces of litter from the northwest corner of Washington Square Park since it became overrun with fentanyl, meth, and all that results from it during the pandemic. I decided I’d keep up the sidcha until three days passed in which I couldn’t trivially find three pieces of litter, as I wrote three years ago in On when I should stop picking up[…] Keep reading →

I try not to complain about heavy work, especially since the physical labor I do is trivial compared to people who work for a living and I just finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, though I’m talking about volunteering, not work for pay. Still, over the past few days a few things conspired to make volunteering with delivering surplus food to give away to people who can[…] Keep reading →