LATEST BLOG POSTS

A friend calls leadership “the l-word.” I used to think of leadership as not something anyone could learn. I thought you either had it or you didn’t. I also associated it with control. Today I associate it with help, support, empathy, compassion, listening, awareness, and social and emotional skills like them. It’s been so long since I associated it with control, I have to work to reconnect with that feeling[…] Keep reading →

People are talking about flying to visit family these days. There’s a running joke about the weird uncle or someone who is hard to get along with. I hope you’re having a better time with family than the people I hear about, and they’re not the people I work with who are living more sustainably. I’m talking about mainstream people talking about their usual holiday plans. Before flying, we used[…] Keep reading →

Folks, I’m not looking for them. People are throwing so many trees before Christmas, what am I supposed to do, act like they aren’t there? Am I supposed to accept that we chop down trees just to put them in our homes for a few days, not even connected to the holiday they aren’t connected to? Doesn’t this one look beautiful, wrapped in disgusting plastic? What a way to honor[…] Keep reading →

I guess people think we have too many trees, or maybe they have too much money. I’m not looking for trees people throw away before Christmas, but I can’t miss them. I figure they’re like roaches: if you see one, there are probably ten others you don’t see. I saw these four last night: Sorry for the blur in the second one below. It was dark and cold.

I was 40 years old when I did my first burpee in 2011. Today I’m 54 and haven’t missed a day. Now I do more than burpees in what I call “my twice daily burpee-based calisthenics.” Daily burpees helped me develop the sidcha concept, which I consider one of the most important developments of my life. I’ve come to see sidchas as the most effective way to reach one’s potential.[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: I Am Not Your Negro: directed by Raoul Peck, based on James Baldwin’s manuscript Remember This House: You can probably tell that Baldwin’s views resonate with me. How he describes the perspective from the bottom of a dominance hierarchy. He attributes it to color, which I see as a proxy for access to a resource with no alternative, but the view is the same. Partly it[…] Keep reading →

Today is the shortest day of the year, with the sun at its lowest angle at noon. Using only photovoltaic solar power, today I get the least potential for energy. It’s less cloudy than usual, so I’ll get some power, but a tall building a block south of mine blocks the sun for most of the morning. Actually, low buildings do too. Here’s a schematic illustration: Here’s a more detailed[…] Keep reading →

I can’t believe how little value people place on trees. Each year I ask myself if I want to bother taking all those pictures of trees people throw away. Am I going to change culture this way? I doubt it. Then again, I’m not hurting anyone and I’m going to post daily anyway. Then I see another Christmas Pagan tree being thrown out well before Christmas. This one appears denuded.[…] Keep reading →

I wrote a few months ago about my physics professor who met Albert Einstein. He also plays piano, at least once even at Carnegie Hall, though a private event hosted by Steinway not for an audience. You might notice a resemblance to Einstein: He played at a private recital this week. I don’t attend enough in-person music performances, all the more for living in New York City. He played last[…] Keep reading →