You know those Bunn coffee makers you see in diners? The ones with a burner on top so you can have 2 pots going at once? That’s what we have in my station. This isn’t Starbucks; the coffee comes in Styrofoam cups and is think enough to stand a spoon up in….and that’s the way we like it.

The people I work with aren’t exactly a sensitive bunch. We’re old, hardened by years of physical labor on the backside of the clock, and not a little cynical. Yet every morning, someone makes sure it’s loaded and ready to go by…

America is more fractured than ever.

Red, Blue. Left, Right. We all have something to say, but never have time to listen. To paraphrase the song, “we’re talking a lot, but we’re not saying anything”

But our linguistic common ground is what will save us; we just have to want it. Language is the soul of a culture, and ours is bruised. We’re exhausted.

We’ve weaponized our words long enough. Let’s use the leverage of language to fix things. We know our differences — if you’ve forgotten, take a quick trip over to FB. …

Music

Note: Each week I take a look back at my playlists and share songs that were either played the most, got stuck in my head, or just stood out. Many are new to me, but there are old faves mixed in as well.

Let’s get right into it!

Hit The North Pt. 1- The Fall

I was late to the party with The Fall. Through the years, people would add songs to mixtapes, or get me to listen to the band, but I could never quite get into them. When lead singer Mark E. Smith passed away in 2018, my…

Richard Feynman was a physicist that worked in quantum mechanics, quantum computing, and more.

He was part of the Manhattan Project. He later became an author, writing several books, including 1985’s “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” and played a role on the Rogers Commission, which investigated the Challenger disaster.

Below are my favorite quotes from him. Some apply to writing, some don’t. All apply to life.

• “Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”
• “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
• “It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with the experiment, it’s wrong.”
• “I’m smart enough to know that I’m dumb.”

What are your favorites of his?

Music

On this day in 1993, New Order released Republic, their sixth studio album. It was the band’s first for London Records, following the demise/sale of previous label, Factory.

Released four years after the band’s highly acclaimed Technique, The band has talked at length about how this project was done under duress to help support the fabled Hacienda Club.

Tensions among members were high going into the studio. Previously, I’ve compared these sessions to an estranged couple staying together for the sake of their kids.

Even under that dark cloud, the album manages to ride high, with big synthesizer layers, and…

Everything dies. That’s just how it is. We have so many days, and then they end. You’re dead for billions of years, live a few, and are dead again for eternity. That’s the bad news.

That’s also a call to stop going through the motions. Live life fully. It doesn’t mean screaming “full send!” and barreling through intersections. It means being nice, prioritizing your time/resources toward things that bring you joy/value.

Time’s a finite resource, make it count.

No one regrets spending less time at the office than they could’ve. Same goes for your phone. When your clock runs out—…