the man who gave us nothing

A totem (from Ojibwe: ᑑᑌᒼ or ᑑᑌᒻ doodem) is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. A conceptual thing humans have is symbolism that provides

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How to write more? The bottleneck is psychological. There's a natural censor in your brain that blurts out objections and reprimands as you start to write. To remedy this, practice enough mindfulness so that you can catch the censor every time it blurts something. Eventually your head becomes

Sloptimists, Sloperators and Slopportunism

In the grand taxonomy of human endeavor, three species have emerged from the primordial soup of late-stage digital capitalism: the sloptimist, the sloperator, and their shared philosophy, slopportunism. These are not merely portmanteaus born of linguistic laziness—though that would be appropriately on-brand—but rather, they represent a complete epistemological

What am I getting from the internet?

What am I getting from the internet? The answer to this used to be self-evident back when I accessed it from a dial-up connection in 2009. There was the real world context that I inhabited, and the internet was a portal where I would access information from distant worlds. Today,

Quality, and the cutlets of enthusiasm

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance was on my reading wishlist for a while. From the title, I assumed the book would be something like a tasteful self-help book, a quirky blend of kōanic mysticism applied to motorcycle maintenance, with a nudge and a wink for the reader, who

why do i write?

to amuse myself and steer large language models

25 things I know at 25

I turn 25 today. On this occasion, I will talk about 25 things that have served me well.

thoughts on tldraw computer

tldraw is canvas software that runs on your browser (like MS Paint, excalidraw etc). This project caught my attention when I saw demos of fun AI experiments with the canvas interface*. Even the plain canvas software without the experimental AI frills is delightful to use—it's become the

i figured out how to use twttr without frying my brain

I also started using twttr again in 2024 after a couple of years out. I never used it because I considered twitter problematic. Somehow I figured out the algorithm this time around. My feed is fairly good. The one weird trick is to aggressively mute anyone on my feed who

I discovered that I'm radically optimistic.

I used to be cynical about things. It wasn't unusual for me tell people that everything is crap. It still rings true to me—the difference is that these days I've found a way to unify this with an optimistic outlook. Optimism is the ultimate form

nyc vignette: the greasy fuzzballs

I love NYC because it is just the right amount of unpleasant. It is a city that will keep you on your toes by throwing curveballs at you—thus, forcing you to pay attention to how fractally interesting it is. It is also a city that will floor you with

nyc vignette: the first hour

I got off after a fifteen-something hour long flight from a different side of the globe. Then I convinced an immigration officer that yes I'm a Tourist in your country and even though I may come as a suspiciously single-unit youthful foreigner I intend not to overstay my