Ascribing a name to something makes people feel that the object, so-named, is a real thing – and importantly thing-y in some way. I suppose I had noticed this phenomenon before, but something crystallized while I was sitting in a research presentation of an early career scholar a few years ago. I think she was …
A new school year is starting. Someone once told me the beginning of the school year was like a freight train. It is massive and has so much inertia that, when it comes by, you either have to jump on or get run over. I have actually come to see that analogy as being too …
Here is the thing about humility: it is not the same thing as self-deprecation. People (in my part of the world) often seem to think humility is about downplaying one’s own abilities or accomplishments. But that strikes me as ironically narcissistic. It is self-focused. To say ‘awe shucks, I’m not so great’ is still to …
The title of this post is a phrase I have heard both brothers Green (Hank and John – or, as John probably prefers, John and Hank) say more than once. And it is true. Collectively, as a species, human beings don’t know most things. What is more, individually, we each only hold a fragment of …
I spent about 10 years living on a hobby farm. Living there taught me a lot of things: the difference between time and calendars, how to be carried by nature instead of getting run over trying to control it, what hard work looks like, what community looks like… and sooooo much home maintenance. Stuff wears …
So I have been thinking about Matthew Crawford’s assertion that, in the work of a mechanic, the bullshit quotient is low, “unless you’re dealing with Harley owners”. The vehicle either runs or it doesn’t. Similarly a carpenter can appeal to clear and unambiguous criteria. Anyone who questions their work can simply be told, “it’s plumb …
I woke up yesterday thinking about what I wanted to write. And today, same. Yesterday I stayed in bed for a while, enjoying being able to puzzle through ideas under the warm sheets, knowing it was -15F outside. Today, I didn’t lounge – even though it was even colder outside. I got out of …
I am not entirely sure when hacking became a good thing. Hacking computer software or systems used to be considered a nefarious endeavor. For the most part, it still seems to be – though there are a handful of people who seek to use this superpower for good. Comedians refer to people who recycle tired …
My office door isn’t plumb. That bugs me. It isn’t far out. You can’t see it. Really, its only noticeable if there is weight on the coat hook on the back of the door. Because then it falls partially-closed. Not fully-closed mind you. Not even mostly closed. Just closed enough to look sloppy. If my …
Garage Monkeys. That is how Pirsig and Crawford describe them. Each writes about a different species: Pirsig about repair techs who lack arete and Crawford about the middle managers who stand between vehicle owners and vehicle repair techs. They are adjacent parts of the modern automotive service-shop organization and both offend something at my core. …