Nonfiction
April 4, 2026The Pocket as a Social Construct
I have this pair of jeans I love. They are perfect in almost every respect: they are comfortable, fashionable, and…
April 2, 2026The Gap Between AI Intelligence and Consciousness
The other day, I asked Grok 4.2 about its feelings and emotions. In our conversation, Grok candidly admitted it feels…
March 26, 2026Hanging on the Periphery: The Life of an Introvert
I’m Gary, and I’m an introvert. It’s no big deal, really, but there it is. If you know me casually,…
March 23, 2026Everything Does Not Happen for a Reason
Everything does not happen for a reason. The notion that it does is a self-centered human fantasy based on limited,…
March 20, 2026Beethoven and the Purity of Will
“What a humiliation when one stood beside me and heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or…
March 16, 2026Vacant Lots: A Butterfly Hunter Considers the Sacred
The simplest definition of “sacred” in the Oxford English Dictionary has always seemed to me to be “set apart,” and that’s probably…
March 9, 2026Raymond Carver Remembered
For those who weren’t writing back in the nineteen eighties, it’s hard to imagine what a broad shadow Raymond Carver…
March 5, 2026The Persistence of Doors
I was four years old, and we lived on the top floor of a fisherman’s house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.…
February 20, 2026Infinite Passion
"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life." Federico Fellini
June 20, 2025Has the Dusting Been Done Up in Heaven?
Has the dusting been done up in heaven? If it hasn’t, there’s one thing I know good and well: You’re…
- April 9, 2025
I Guess
The other day, I decided to take one of the numerous IQ tests offered on the internet. I chose a…
March 8, 2025Joseph Campbell on Schopenhauer, Will, and Life’s Composition
In his splendid essay called "On an Apparent Intention in the Fate of the Individual," Schopenhauer points out that when…
