Ignorance Brings Hate

a collection of motivational insights regarding content creation and creative hobbies

and of course the classic

more pat self-help advice from dr. tozo

(>NOT/BUT archive)

You Are Not Wasting Time; It Was Given To You As A Gift, Freely and Generously; Is Rain Wasted Because It Falls On Gardens, Grass, Disgruntled Birds, and Umbrellas All The Same?

This probably sounds obvious, but I learned today that prisoners aren't protected by OSHA regulations, and that this is another reason why employers are so eager to utilize this modern slavery. It's only a couple cents an hour, less transportation costs than the overseas sweatshops, and if you want people to work with hazardous materials without proper training? That's fine too! Prison labor is the ultimate free market solution!

absolutely iconic (”the ‘perpetual broths’ that simmer for decades”, atlas obscura)

Goncharov dir. Martin Scorsese

Sauron: *after LotR* as much as being a spirit sucks, at least I’m not trapped under a mountain

Ar-Pharazôn: as much as being trapped under a mountain sucks, as least I got betrayed by someone cool

Saruman’s ghost: as much as being murdered by Wormtongue sucks, at least I never had to have sex with my sister

Turin: As much has having to have sex with my sister sucks, at least I didn’t have to watch my kids have sex together

Hurin: I hate this game

The Lonely Side of Salad: Writing Half of ‘Arugula’

Warning - This post will have heavy spoilers for Episode 44 of Greater Boston (Arugula).

Before the start of pandemic I was thinking about changing jobs. I had worked at the same college for nearly fifteen years. I loved it but things were beginning to wear on me in ways that were continuously frustrating. Then the pandemic grew to the point where quarantining was necessary and I found myself working from home, sitting next to my daughter, logging her on to Zoom kindergarten every morning. We did YouTube Yoga. I helped her learn how to ride her bike wearing masks in a nearby church parking lot. We even made a storytelling podcast. 

Then my college started rumbling about financial shortfalls. They laid off my boss. They promoted me and then told me I had to help layoff 12 people. Then a job I had applied for before the pandemic hit reached out and asked me if I was interested. I interviewed and got the job and was so distraught about what was happening at my current college that I accepted. 

I started a new job in June of 2020. I can not begin to explain to you how strange this was. We had meetings every morning to discuss what initiatives we were working on. I panicked about this every day. I was new. I didn’t have any initiatives. Nobody was talking to me. I’d get the occasional email, the odd request. But days would go by with no feedback from my boss or colleagues. I sat at home refreshing email and literally trying to Google what I should be doing for work. 

Keep reading