It will be called something like BigBox. It will be a local kiosk that keeps track of the most popular items sold on the internet, then stockpiles a cache of hundreds of each item for easy pickup. When you buy something online, there will be a link that says “Buy it now through BigBox and pick up instantly”. You’ll fill in your payment information and print out a receipt with your confirmation code. Then you’ll drive down to BigBox, give the person in the kiosk your receipt, and they’ll hand you your item. (more…)
I got my wisdom teeth out a few days ago, and although I don’t want this blog to be about the kinds of day-to-day activities you find on social networking sites, there were some deeper issues relating to putting off one’s life that I would like to discuss. This was something I had been meaning to do for over a decade, and was a symbol for me of the non-caring (not carefree) existence I used to slide through. I’m a firm believer in putting off till tomorrow whatever is going to disrupt your work today, but in this case, I was putting off my entire life away, so here is the story of the lost decade that almost cost me everything. (more…)
I decided to retract the previous post about Triviality, because it belongs in a different kind of blog, where people talk about “what they did that day”. I may repost it under “Personal”. But I’m more concerned with the deeper insights that I’ve garnered over the years. I tried to go it alone for a decade during the Bush years, pretending to be in full control of my life, basically doing a song and dance and pretending to be something I’m not. After going full circle, I’ve rediscovered who I am, and I’m not going to apologize for it anymore or try to fit into some mold that I imagine other people make for me. No man is an island, and here’s why. (more…)
Well, here goes nothing. I’ve spent my life trying to live up to some contrived notion of success, following a path laid out for myself that had an unclear destination. The old motivators that drove me (money, esteem, virtuosity – heh) seem faded like yesterday’s news. I find more and more that what I really care about is to see progress in the world. Achieving real prosperity – for our friends, for the underdogs, for the people we haven’t even met, is the worthiest goal to which we can aspire. I don’t know how to change the world. I only know how to nudge it along in small ways. (more…)