Category Archives: Stories

Last night I dreamed people actually *wanted* to change to live more sustainably

on December 2, 2025 in Stories

Last night I dreamed people actually wanted to act, themselves, personally, not just talk. Memories of dreams fade fast, so I don’t remember the details, but I remember people asking, “What should I do?” with interest and curiosity instead of, with cynicism and incredulity, “What should I do?”, as if there was no answer. I dreamed that people realized they had to change their lives and wanted to. I woke[…] Keep reading →

Simple math humor

on November 24, 2025 in Creativity, Education, Humor, Stories

Saturday I posted about a joke I did in a college math class. That math class did witness a great joke, but not by me, and it may only make sense to people who have done advanced math. The professor was going to prove that a certain group, which is a precise mathematical concept, had a certain property. The group is the set of symmetries of an icosahedron. The property[…] Keep reading →

My short conversation with a guy injecting heroin into his neck in broad daylight, steps from my front door

on November 20, 2025 in Addiction, Relationships, Stories

I walked past this fire truck the other day. It was bright daylight, not nighttime, like when I took this picture. I saw a guy standing about where the “18” is on the truck’s bumper, facing toward the truck, doing something with some stuff on the bumper, keeping it hidden, looking at himself in the reflection on the chrome on the grill. He was focused on what he was doing[…] Keep reading →

My wonderful dream last night, playing with a dog.

on November 13, 2025 in Stories

I don’t usually remember dreams, but I half woke up before the alarm this morning. I was half in the dream and half awake. In the dream I was playing with a dog like in this picture. I’ve never owned a brown lab, but that’s the dog in my dream. I remember being about the size of the dog in the dream and the dog wasn’t particularly big, so I[…] Keep reading →

More delicious free heirloom tomatoes that volunteers and poor people rejected but I turned into gazpacho

on October 1, 2025 in Creativity, Stories

In my newsletter I wrote about heirloom tomatoes that taste delicious that I eat after other volunteers, homeless people, and poor people reject them. Here’s what I wrote, followed by a picture of the tomatoes and a picture of the gazpacho, as if it tasted different if the tomatoes weren’t bruised. What’s wrong with us that we act as if other people waste food? Or all the other garbage we[…] Keep reading →

I apologized after over twenty years and it turns out he didn’t notice what I did.

on September 30, 2025 in Stories

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a friend invited himself into a social group of mine. He was a good friend, as were the people in the other group, but at the time I wanted to keep them separate. As it turned out, my initial impulse to keep them separate was baseless. He fit in the group and everyone got along. Except for one thing. At some of the[…] Keep reading →

Two more times I cried, from laughing

on September 26, 2025 in Stories

The other day I wrote about the Times I Cried. Those times were occasions of loss or sadness. I had also thought of I time I laughed so hard I cried. I went back and forth about including it but decided against it. I could have included it since it fit the category and the contrast might illuminate. I decided against it because I didn’t think I could convey the[…] Keep reading →

Times I cried

on September 22, 2025 in Stories

I had the idea for this post at least a year ago. I have a list of post ideas for days when I can’t think of any. This post idea has been on it as long as I can remember. When I think to write it, it makes me feel vulnerable. Does writing about me crying related to what I usually post about? Will I be sharing weaknesses? Will people[…] Keep reading →

The easy and hard parts of exercise and another value of sidchas

on September 20, 2025 in Awareness, Fitness, Habits, SIDCHAs, Stories

This morning’s calisthenics involved four sets of burpees. I noticed a funny thought as I started the third set. I had barely done a tenth of a burpee in that third set when I thought, “Only one set left.” That’s an odd thought. Since I had barely started the third set, I had closer to two sets left. Why did I think I had one set left when I actually[…] Keep reading →

Sign up for my weekly newsletter