A man’s spirit requires attention, maintenance, and repair, and so much of what we now do—gazing at the glow, watching and listening to other people performing and pretending, the doom‑scrolling, the constant connection to the hive mind—interferes with that maintenance. We are a nation of addicts, and our drug is constant distraction, even those of … More In Better Company
A friend posted a great idea for calming the jitters yesterday. She untangles jewelry. I had to laugh, because I practice the dude version of her method. On my workbench sits a box of assorted hardware — nuts and bolts, screws and washers, springs and odd little thingamajigs. I’m not jittery, but sorting hardware is … More Idle Time
I called my brother the other day while he and his wife were sharing a morning cup. The weather outside was frigid, but they were basking in the warm embrace of home and companionship, quietly chatting about this and that. A slice of toast, a comfortable chair, and nothing demanding they get up and get … More The Little Things
It was a week of rebellion. My smartphone was banished to the shop, forgotten in the car, deprived of its charging station, and left unattended. The revolt began when I noticed the weight of a certain cardboard box on a shelf, the one which contains several pounds of old cell phones. Tinkerers will understand the … More Digital DNA
Outside The Box 