Category: thinking

  • Half-penny thoughts — 28jan26

    I feel like being more lighthearted today. Rather than write all kinds of serious words about my thinking on something, I am deciding to post a “just-for-fun” question to see if anyone is interested in a little mock game of truth or dare. Use one of the off-the-cuff examples below to answer my relatively absurd question, or come up with your own response. Please note, they are all not obviously standard responses to the question. Try to keep it in that spirit if you come up with something different.

    Which is sexier in your mind?

    • A tome of dusty old words largely lost to the vagaries of time?
    • A score tucked into a sealed plaster wall from a dead composer that was never recognized for their genius?
    • Petals floating by on a slow-moving stream in a snow-covered landscape?
    • Poetry whispered into a dark room with an audience of one lonely ghost?
    • Fangs of a vampire resting on your skin, but not quite breaking it?
    • Or something entirely different from the above? Be creative, be nonstandard.

    Just curious what folks decide and come up with/decide upon. There is absolutely no motive aside from that. The only condition is that it must actually appeal to you when you post in the comments if it isn’t one of those suggested.

    Either admit one sounds appealing (Truth) or propose your own. If you Dare.

  • Follow-up on State-sponsored terrorists invading Minnesota

    Photo of Alex Pretti, the 37yo man who was ruthlessly murdered this morning by Federal agents. Photo was captured on The Guardian, January 24, 2026.

    Sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Alex Pretti. From all accounts he was a giant asset to our city. He was not a criminal or part of a far-left conspiracy bullshit thing they will try to paint him as. He was normal, hardworking, and probably better person than most of us. He was a goddamn VA nurse, for fuck’s sake.

    Unlike his killers, he brought life to his world. By all account he loved and cared for people.

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  • MLK 2026

    “The question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?”

  • Half-penny thoughts — 09jan26

    Do you ever get that itchy feeling that you ought to be up to something but cannot quite put your finger on what, exactly, that something might be aside from some nebulous notions that flutter like butterflies in the summer sun inside the space most folks store their brains?

    Yeah. That’s the prevailing feeling I am getting these past few days: an Ought which is disappointingly lacking in Substance.

    Maybe it is just my rebellious nature itching to get out and do something in light of the recent events that have taken place in my hometown (I moderate my activism to protect my family, but would act up significantly more if I had only myself to be concerned about).

    But that does not feel quite right. If I got involved with current activist events, I’d probably sign up to marshal more than agitate anyway. That feels closer to the heart of this indecipherable vibe I am feeling. Spirit/soul work of some sort, perhaps?

    Well, let’s not worry about solving my conundrum. It’s very likely something I need to get at myself without external help. That’s the kind of vibe it is; internal stuff.

    However, going back to the original thought at the head of this post:

    How often do you feel you ought to be doing something, but cannot think of what that something might be? Frequently? Never?

    And, if you do, are you always able to eventually resolve what that thing is? Or do you just let it go and hope that it comes to you a little clearer after you give it room to breathe?

    Do you ever get vague hints from wherever vague hints are born? Or does the realization come directly/not at all?

  • Half-penny thoughts — 07jan26

    Sometimes, when I look in the mirror or in the work chat camera, I’m a little surprised by who I see there. The person looking back at me appears to be a reflection of myself, except that all that grey and all that beard (not to mention the bushier eyebrows) seems much more gnome that it ought to be for the person I recall being.

    If I’m being generous, I replace the “gnome” with “druid”. However, self-generosity doesn’t come easy, so gnome is of more frequent use. Perhaps there is a better description? I’ll have to think about it (I’ve not quite evolved into a “troll”, but I suspect it will come sooner than later).

    Are you ever surprised by who you see in pictures of yourself? If so, do you think it is generally for the better or for the worse? If you were to use a common word or phrase of less than five words, what do you think best describes your general appearance or that someone might mistake you for being?

  • half-penny thoughts — 05jan26

    I’m probably overlooking quite a few artists, but it sure seems like the vast majority of them these days are very serious about their music.

    That’s not to say that I didn’t listen to and work with musicians in the past who were very serious about their music, but it seemed there were more folks in earlier eras who were a lot less serious about it. Or, they were serious musician who leaned into satire instead of saying things like, “We are artistes, not baboons. Go away and baboon elsewhere.”

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  • Genealogy update — 01jan26

    Photo by Warren Umoh on Unsplash

    Those who have been around here know that my mother was born out of wedlock and fathered by a man whom I only have the barest of information about. While it might have been nice to know more about him over the years, the only real incentive to fining out more about him was the surprise DNA results my mother got back, putting her at 33% Finn, something none of us suspected.

    Running her DNA through an algorithm, there was an additional surprise: That some of that Finnish background may actually be Sámi, the reindeer herders of the area. So I set out to see if I could find out more about my grandfather, who’s ghost seemed to be hellbent on avoiding discovery. I eventually gave up the hunt as a lost cause when all roads ended up in dead ends about the man.

    Until Andrea showed up in one of my DNA services.

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  • Well, that’s done

    Photo by Mário Rui André on Unsplash

    As I committed to myself and anyone who bothered actually reading the content of my posts about the matter in either sphere, I killed my Instagram and Facebook accounts tonight. A couple of days earlier than some might expect, but my only commitment to everyone was that the accounts would cease to exist in the waning days and hours of 2025. Reach out if you want to stay in contact, I said.

    If I was expecting a flood of people saying “don’t leave us!” (I wasn’t), I might have been disappointed in the response. I was expecting nothing and got a trickle instead, so I count those few blessings.

    I am left with the overall opinion: Good riddance.

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  • Solstice

    Blessed Solstice everyone.

    May the next turn of the wheel bring you joy, prosperity and abundance.

    Photo by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash

  • Solstice — an explanation of sorts

    The season of withdrawing is upon us.

    The sun slips lower with each passing cycle and we will soon have the longest night upon us — here, in Minneapolis we will see more than fifteen hours of darkness overnight at solstice, while places like Fairbanks, AK will see closer to eighteen hours of night.

    I’ve decided this year to honor this cycle of nature and reduce my online presence over the days leading up to Winter Solstice, which takes place on December 21 — in accordance with the daylight hours and as my professional career allows (I still need to make money to pay bills, after all).

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