Awareness

Why Charles Dickens’ Micawber was only half right

  I will rarely quote Charles Dickens, but here’s a great quote from David Copperfield by the character Wilkins Micawber: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty … Read MoreRead More

Your work may not be original, but that’s not the point

  For those who haven’t read the post about Ze Frank, go watch this video. Go ahead, I’ll wait. A terrible place between zero and one I confess I watched this video with a strange mixture of excitement, amazement, and … Read MoreRead More

Honorary Ex-Velleitier: Ze Frank

  I don’t usually (well actually ever) embed YouTube videos, but I’m going to make an exception here. So please watch this, it’s only 181 seconds long: … Read More

Assume you will return

  I’ve been helping to plan some travels for someone else recently, a nice change for me given how often people talk about how they aren’t able to travel. We’re going through all the usual decisions, but knowing that there … Read MoreRead More

What do you value?

  Joe Biden, the current US Vice President as of the time of writing (and possibly the most famous person from Delaware), is on record with a great quote: “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and … Read MoreRead More

Why cities are better experienced on the surface

  I talked about bike share in New York City, and how it has the potential to change the fabric of the street. But I also didn’t test it out myself, as I lacked a helmet. Lame, I know, but … Read MoreRead More

What is the difference between a friend and a love?

  The standard social model is as follows: You have a large number of acquaintances, followed by a smaller number of close friends, and then at the top: the single solitary love. Putting aside the acquaintances for now, it’s the … Read MoreRead More

If you’re not doing it, stop

  I like to think about ways to get myself people to accomplish things and not just say that I’m they are “going to, someday”. I’m fascinated by what it is inside ourselves that causes us to self-sabotage. (The book … Read MoreRead More

Why cheap travel isn’t the best

  I spent the night of my 23rd birthday on the floor of the Greyhound Terminal in San Francisco. … Read More

Run the numbers after your trip

  When I come back from a long trip, I tend to do three things: Sleep copiously (though not necessarily in the correct hours for my current time zone) Dump the contents of my bag either into the trash or … Read MoreRead More