A Theory of Dryer Crimes

Jason lived between a hammer and an anvil, between his wife and the Caledcotts

Your life is awesome? Great!

I’m troubled by how awesome you all are on Facebook. This is why my Facebook feed seems so impersonal

Why I Don’t Go Paperless

Is it really “green” to go for paperless billing, or is it just a “dark pattern” by which companies seek to distance you from your costs, fees and other nastiness? Read on to see wny I think it’s a dark pattern and what the actual difference in carbon footprint is.

The Boy Behind The Couch

In which our hero recalls an embarrassing moment in the life of a barely-teen introvert upon reading a chance passage in Susan Cain’s book Quiet and discovers his true nature.

Learning to Read

We talk about “learning to read” as if it’s something we do and is done. As in “when did he learn to read?” But I’m 52 and still learning to read. In this article I recount my meetings with extraordinary readers and what goes into truly learning to read.

The Academy Weighs in on Life Hacking

There is no English Academy, like there is for French, to protect our language from Philistines. So I’m saying it here: if I ever say in seriousness that I have found a great new lifehack, please shoot me. There’s nothing left worth saving.

Sarah’s Watch

A man awakes in a cell with nothing but a watch that won’t even truly tell him the time. And secondarily, an experiment in writing using the Hemmingway App

How to Tell Tom from Las Vegas

People are always telling me I look a lot like Las Vegas. Here is a brief guide to help people tell us apart.

Stealing Communion Bread in Reformation Geneva

Stealing the communion bread was both a problem for the authorities in medieval Europe, but also quite understandable. But in the context of Reformation Geneva, it unveils an entirely new set of problems.