goatee

15 Minute Cities

2026-04-20T00:00:00-04:00

As part of planning for the next chapter of life, I used Claude to create a script that pulls public data sources to assess possible 15-minute neighborhoods on the East Coast. I was inspired to use the densities of Little Libraries along with CityNerd’s favorite walk, bike, and transit scores, but both of those data sources are proprietary! Fortunately, I found other sources (click “About data”), for which I am grateful.

I starred a few of the cities I’m familiar with as a reference. I live in Cambridge (too expensive), and visited Pittsburgh (good value, though I wish there were more sunny days), and Asheville (perhaps too small). No city improves on Pittsburgh across all variables (which you can expand, filter, and sort), but I will have to look at Columbus, Ohio more carefully.

Arboretum in Autumn

2025-11-17T00:00:00-05:00

Speaking of autumn colors, we saw this beautiful gingko tree at the Harvard Arnold Arboretum.

Autumn Colors at Mt. Auburn Cemetery

2025-10-27T00:00:00-04:00

Visiting Mt. Auburn Cemetery before Halloween is one of my favorite things to do in the autumn.

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea,
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a Golden Tree. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Train to Portland

2025-07-08T00:00:00-04:00

We try visit Portland at least once a year, always by car. This year we took the Amtrak Downeaster. The benefit is we didn’t have to worry about driving, parking, and traffic. We did have to be a bit more patient in waiting for public transit, but that was fine: Amtrak was pleasant and three buses regularly run up and down Congress Street, Portland’s main thoroughfare. For example, on our last day we checked out of La Quinta at 11:00 am, walked 20 minutes to the train station, hiked along the nearby Fore River Park Trail, cooled off at the station, got on the train, got into Boston’s North Station, stretched our legs along the nice walk across the Charles River Damn and Revere Park to Cambridge Crossing, got dinner at Bon Me, then took the #69 from Lechmere to within a block of our building. We missed stopping at Fort Williams Park on the way back, but we got our fill of views and old battlements via the ferry to Peaks Island and Battery Steele. (BTW: the Wikipedia article on the latter still uses my photo from our 2015 visit!)

The most important thing, though, is that Nixie enjoyed playing fetch on the beach.

summer haiku

2025-06-23T00:00:00-04:00

young tomato plant
I gently lift each green shoot
to a higher ring

New Orleans, LA

2025-04-22T00:00:00-04:00

We’re back from NOLA, where I presented at the 2025 Popular Culture Assocation Conference. I didn’t care for the French Quarter (too many tourists and addicts) but I did note a few things, that can be seen in my photos.

We made much use of the 12 and 57 tram and bus lines, respectively.
The RTA public transit ferry ride to Algiers Point was a nice and inexpensive way to float on the Mississippi.
Stores were more casual about dogs than those in Boston; the buses were okay and the trams more strict—even when we had Nixie in a bag, as permitted by policy.
Folks there like their floats! Weekend nights are lit by open air buses and floats full of women drinking and partying (in Ward 7 at least).
City Park is not a nice walking-about park; rather, it’s a bunch of athletic fields.
Audubon Park is a lovely place to walk about (designed by an Olmsted).
The Garden District is beautiful.
I enjoyed Oak St. neighborhood, in Ward 14.
Breads on Oak is one of the best vegan bakeries I’ve ever been to.

Newport, RI

2025-03-10T00:00:00-04:00

We took a weekend trip to Newport, RI. It wasn’t freezing, but it could be windy. Nonetheless, we enjoyed some beautiful views, including those from cliff walk, the sunset from old observation tower at Brenton Point, and of the bay at Fort Adams.

Wood and water

2025-02-04T00:00:00-05:00

One of my favorite zen proverbs is: Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water. I suspect, however, that I am romanticizing these activities because I can imagine doing them mindfully. Today, the tasks would be: “sit in front of computer and go to meetings.”

Fresh Pond’s dog pond in autumn

2024-10-22T00:00:00-04:00

The lost rock of Lake Michigan

2024-08-26T00:00:00-04:00

While visiting Michigan for a family wedding, we came across the Lost Rock of Douglas Beach, Lake Michigan.

Manhole with ladder

2024-03-28T00:00:00-04:00

Charlestown and the Mystic Rivers

2023-09-05T00:00:00-04:00

This Labor Day weekend we bicycled out to Menino Park, via Revere Park and the Charlestown Seawall Trail. We pushed on, past the Little Mystic (where Nixie jumped in for a swim) to the Mystic River itself. We’d never explored the waterfront side of Charlestown before and marveled at the old buildings, including the quarter-mile long Rope Walk building – now apartments.

Pittsburgh visit

2023-07-27T00:00:00-04:00

Given we are thinking about the next stage of our lives, we visited Pittsburgh as a place we might move to. We enjoyed the city. There was plenty to do and see, we got around easily on bus and POGOH shared bikes, and we were taken with some of the neighborhoods. Our favorite were:

Lawrenceville
Friendship
Point Breeze North (near East End Food Co-Op)
Mexican War Streets in Central Northside
(Bloomfield and Garfield are also okay)

Hello Nixie

2023-06-22T00:00:00-04:00

On June 3 we returned from Mutt Rescue with a new dog.

“Nixie” (or “Nix”) was similar to her rescue name; Nora and I like Nixie tubes (i.e., Numeric Indicator eXperimental); her bark is raspy like Stevie Nicks; and she’s curious, following us to the bathroom even, hence “nosy Nixie.”

You can see more of her her first month photos with us.

The next stage?

2023-06-07T00:00:00-04:00

Nora and I have lived in our current apartment longer than anywhere else in our lives – as a couple and individually. Highland Avenue was to be our modest apartment during a one-year Harvard fellowship, but it has been our home for 13 years. Though we love Cambridge, the apartment’s lack of sunlight and leaky walls and the expense of any other place in Cambridge led me to think that we should, at some point, move on. We were able to save money while here, but we won’t be able to live here forever.

I’m sure we’ll think of this period as the Casper years, who passed a few months ago. This felt like the closing of a significant chapter in our lives. And while I greatly appreciate aspects of my job, I feel as if I’m about ready for one more thing, for something else.

Given all this – and that Nora now works at home and Boston is expensive – I’ve been researching places we might move to. I won’t conduct a job search that is hopefully in a place we’d like; I’ll find (a less expensive) place we’d like and figure something to do once there.

This sense of change is also prompted by a financial goal: to FIRE myself (“Barista” style). During my research on life hackers, I delved into the Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) movement. There are different levels of FIRE: “barista FIRE” means you still work part-time or on a passion project; above that is “lean FIRE,” which means you must live modestly. (Lucky are those who can “fat” FIRE.)

Being in your 50s is hardly early – savvy techies can do so in their 30s – but it’s less than 65 or 70. My father died before he hit 65. I could live longer, but I might not.

I’ve long been an advocate of a “good life, good death.” Should I be faced with extended or ruinous ill health, I believe I would exercise my right to die. I’m not so presumptuous as to predict the future, or even how I might feel, but I don’t feel obliged to save enough money to live my last years in a dementia care facility.

But I get ahead of myself. The current chapter is not yet over. The market downturn and inflation have changed my calculations. And I have another book project that I want to make a solid attempt at. I hope to remain on Highland for another three or four years. Then, depending on fate, I will turn a page to the next chapter, whether it’s the penultimate or concluding one.

Elliot Tower upon the Great Blue Hill

2023-03-06T00:00:00-05:00

It’s spring break this week, but we are staying close for Casper, who can’t do much, but he enjoyed the portage up to Elliot Tower atop Great Blue Hill.

Sunday River, Maine

2022-08-30T00:00:00-04:00

Visiting a ski resort in the summer makes for beautiful views. We took chair lifts up the mountain and hiked along a trail.

Red-tailed hawk at Arsenal Park

2022-08-21T00:00:00-04:00

This weekend we pedaled up the Charles River to Arsenal Park, where we spotted a red-tailed hawk. She spotted us, as well.

Garden in the Woods

2022-05-11T00:00:00-04:00

To celebrate Nora’s birthday we went to the “Garden in the Woods,” a “naturalistic plant collection that showcases New England native plants with complementary specimens from across the country.”

I loved this small hut with a green roof.

Caladesi via Clearwater

2022-03-14T00:00:00-04:00

In 1985, Hurricane Elena filled in the Dunedin Pass, separating Clearwater Beach from Caladesi Island, though it is a bit of a (lovely) hike.

You know you’re near the boundary, when you see the shell trees.

And you know you should hurry back, when the tide starts coming in.

Gulf Coast Sunset

2022-03-13T00:00:00-05:00

Something that tickles me, as a New Englander, is an aquatic sunset.

Education, wealth, racism, and remedies

2021-11-02T00:00:00-04:00

I’ve been skeptical of student debt forgiveness for the typical reasons: my own sense of frugality (e.g., going to a state school and paying off debt ASAP), concerns about moral hazard (i.e., increasing credential inflation and education costs), and even the ever increasing federal debt (i.e., a ponzi scheme that will one day fall).

That said, I know the world has changed since I was an undergrad. I also appreciate the U.S. has a stark wealth gap along racial lines that needs to be remedied. (And I recognize most conservatives seem to care about national debt only when social programs are being discussed, but lose that concern when considering military spending and industrial subsidies.) This discussion between Tressie McMillan Cottom and Louise Seamster in favor of student debt forgiveness gave me much to think about. This includes the policy issue of debt relief and the ethical issue of equity.

If equality is about ensuring equal opportunities, equity recognizes that neutral-seeming policies aren’t enough to counter historic and systemic biases: “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination” (Kendi 2019, 19). I strongly support equality and removing that which perpetuates historic and systemic bias. But I dither on equity. I wish I could find a taxonomy of remedies, like those sketched below, with which to think about the ethics and pragmatics of remedying injustices.

systemic reform
reparation
- Coates’s reparations
equity
- affirmative action: quotas
- affirmative action: “preferences” (non-quotas)
- Kendi’s Department of Anti-racism

I am a strong advocate of systemic reform: ethically necessary and practically achievable though distressingly difficult to achieve. On affirmative action, I am ambivalently moderate: cautiously supportive of the balance struck in Grutter v. Bollinger, though it is usually bureaucratically incoherent—often requiring doublethink—in practice. I am sympathetic to the obligation of reparations to those directly harmed (e.g., the internment of Japanese Americans), but the passing of time decreases its relevance. I dislike Kendi’s authoritarianism for many reasons. I wonder if there is there a comprehensive treatment on this topic that attends to the ethics and pragmatics of these and other options?

References

Kendi, Ibram X. 2019. How to Be an Antiracist. One World.

North Shore, South Shore

2021-09-07T00:00:00-04:00

This labor day weekend, we got a car and explored the coast around Boston.

On Saturday, we explored the North Shore and happened across Gerry Island, for which there is a path when the tide is out.

Monday, we explored the South Shore, and enjoyed the rocky beach of Webb Memorial Park.

Watermelon and mint soba

2021-06-21T00:00:00-04:00

Summer time is a time of cold salads. For lunch I’m finishing yesterday’s improvised sesame soba with tofu, watermelon, and mint!

Punx (Hair) Not Dead

2021-02-20T00:00:00-05:00

As a young goth or punk, you learn to give yourself and friends haircuts. This past year takes me back: Nora, working from home, has been opting for edgier styles, and I’ve been implementing them with scissors and trimmers in hand.

Returning to Old Dog Hill

2021-02-18T00:00:00-05:00

Amidst the slushy doldrums of February I find myself thinking of a return to old dog hill.

The new extension of the old Cambridge library straddles a small hill. The rain sluices off, making for a comfortable and dry position from which to survey the park and its denizens.

When Casper was younger, we’d pass the hill on the way to the corner of the park where the dogs chase and wrestle. Casper had balls to snatch from the air and dogs to best in tug. We never gave the hill any thought until a middle-aged man and his old retriever became evening fixtures. He sat beside his Golden, idly petting her as she held a tennis ball in her whitened muzzle in remembrance of more active days. That’s when we took to calling it old dog hill.

After a few years, the man and his dog relinquished the hill. Shortly thereafter, we claimed the spot as our own.

Casper’s mid-air collisions and tug battles have left him with a bad back. Weather permitting, we sit on the hill, speaking to passersby, idly petting Casper, and tossing a ball every few minutes for him to leisurely fetch in remembrance of more active days.

We sometimes still see the man walking to the library, alone. And as he passes I wonder if he thinks as we once did, “there they are, on old dog hill.”

✽

How tug-crazy was Casper? Witness.

What counts as meat?

2020-12-21T00:00:00-05:00

Rebecca Schuman’s Schadenfreude, A Love Story reminds me of my favorite zines from the naughts, and I’m enjoying her stories of high-school angst and collegiate travel from that era.

Last night I laughed with recognition when she learned, as a vegetarian in Germany, that the little cubes of ham on her broccoli and cheese was not meat but ham (“Das ist doch kein Fleisch – das ist Schinken.”)

I’ve had similar experiences traveling the world as a vegetarian:

In Europe and Asia, ham, chicken, and fish are not necessarily “meat.”
In Asia, a “vegetarian” dumpling can have fish sauce.
In Asia, asking for “vegetarian” food can also mean no onion or garlic because the diet is closely associated with Buddhist monastics who swear off pungent vegetables.

Winter rosemary

2020-12-21T00:00:00-05:00

Winter pizza night
The rosemary is still green
Under the snow

Lunchtime sun at Breakheart Reservation

2020-12-14T00:00:00-05:00

December lunch
the scarred winter sun
sits low but warm

Breakheart Reservation Pond

2020-11-08T00:00:00-05:00

Masks in the alley

2020-10-24T00:00:00-04:00

Raising the flag at Powder House Park

2020-09-27T00:00:00-04:00

Mr. Neuman’s overhead projector

2020-09-23T00:00:00-04:00

COVID19 has meant the end of many things. This bin of overhead projectors – displaced by fancy new “solstice pods” – made me think of my high school astronomy teacher, Mr. Nueman.

Sitting next to the glowing glass, with colored pens in hand, he illustrated his lectures on acetate sheets. I’ve yet to see this teaching technique rivaled.

What a privilege it was to have a small planetarium and astronomy teacher in high school!

On the ethical differences between prepping, hoarding, and profiteering

2020-03-17T00:00:00-04:00

As an anxious pessimist, I’ve joked that preparing for the Corona Virus has been my moment to shine. But I’ve also been thinking about the ethics of preparation and the distinction we might draw between prepping, hoarding, and profiteering.

I’m intrigued by prepping, but don’t identify as a prepper – I live in a city apartment. Nor would I want to spend thousands of dollars on the off chance I could make a go of it post-apocalypse. I find such folks amusing, a bit deranged, and, at times, a little too gleeful; but everyone needs a hobby, and I see no social harm.

And there’s much to say for being prepared for likely events that span a few weeks or months. I have a lot of toilet paper, but I usually do as I buy it in bulk from Amazon. I have a box of surgical masks, that we wear to dremel the dog’s claws. I bought a new box of N95 masks, which I use during allergy season and air travel. I bought some more gloves, which I use for bleaching my hair and doing stuff around the apartment. I stocked up on food, but will be able to eat all of it in a couple months. I got some money out before the market crashed, but my 401ks are in the same dump as everyone else’s. This was ego-centric but not anti-social behavior, done before the panic.

To prep is to skim bountiful capacity for later use. In this way, it distributes and decentralizes essential resources. My twenty pound bag of rice – plus some dried beans and tofu tetra packs – could be handy to me and others in an unforeseen crisis. There’s still the quandary of if and how to share those resources when asked by those less prepared. (See The Twilight Zone’s episode “The Shelter.”) And I wrestled with shorting in the market, but didn’t have time to open a margin account in any case.

To hoard, on the other hand, is to deprive others of resources you don’t need. To buy more than what you need when others are trying to do the same is excessive and anti-social.

Profiteering then, such as that fellow in Tennessee, is benefiting at the expense of others – he’ll never use seventeen-thousand bottles of hand-sanitizer. The anarcho-capitalist might excuse the profiteer because there’s no formal coercion, but I use a social-good test: is this a behavior that adds value to society? The profiteer is not creating more resources or value, he’s only extracting it. If he’s extracting value from purchasers who are desperate, this is exploitative. If he’s extracting value from the wealthy who can afford it, this is an unjust redistribution of resources.

Whereas the profiteer is able to extract far more value than they contribute to society, the prepper, as a type of decentralized storage, adds some.

Gears and roots

2019-12-30T00:00:00-05:00

Why even reasonable people disagree

2019-08-01T00:00:00-04:00

I’ve been thinking a lot about interpersonal conflict, especially around something I’ve been struggling with this past year.

Interpersonal conflict arises for many reasons, the bulk of which are manifestations of attachment, aversion, and ignorance. Cognitive biases and disordered thinking contribute as well.

However, putting aside all of that, it’s possible for even reasonable people to disagree.

Having taught conflict management for a couple of years, I’m well acquainted with “I-statements,” Nonviolent Communication (speaking of observations, feelings, needs, and requests), log-rolling (and other non-zero sum interactions), and separating positions (I need your orange) from interests (I’m hungry, can you help?).

All of these tactics are about identifying and expressing interests, which are informed by values, understanding, and circumstances.

Each of us has values, a priori beliefs, which can be unexamined or even in conflict between themselves. A useful maxim for speech is to ask: is what I want to say kind, true, and necessary? It’s great when these three values are aligned, but sometimes they are not; sometimes I have to suffice with one or two out of three. Sometimes people have different values (e.g., individualism vs collectivism), though there’s often more overlap than we think. Learning to express our values, even when conflicted, is a step toward finding common, or at least not dissimilar, interests.

Yet, people with the same values can still disagree: they can bring different understanding to bear. You and I can both value friendship and a mutual friend, but I happen to know that she dislikes cilantro, and you do not. For a time, we might disagree about where to take her for dinner. This is a toy example, but what we know affects our understanding of more important concerns. Again, sharing what we understand is an important skill—though personal experience is frustratingly difficult to communicate.

Finally, even if we share the same values and understanding, our interests can diverge because of our different circumstances. It can be as simple as you are at the top of a narrow staircase and need to come down, and I am at the bottom and need to go up. Sometimes, our circumstances (our commitments, jobs, and relationships) put us in conflict. In this example, one of us will have to wait. That said, we too often fail to consider our shared values and to communicate our understandings.

Even if I disagree with a person, I need not feel enmity, which can make things even worse. I can’t blame you for needing to come down the narrow staircase. And it is better for one of us to cede than for both us get caught in an angry stalemate. Since you can come down more quickly, I’d likely invite you to do so if I can do the same next time. Life is rarely as simple as a toy example, and we ought always look for agreeable opportunities.

Goose Pond Lake

2019-07-18T00:00:00-04:00

We had a lovely long weekend in New Hampshire.

Casper isn’t keen on swimming, as he was when younger, but he still loves the water. Kayak or canoe, he rests his chin on the gunwale and watches the water go by.

We tried paddle boards on this trip, and he contentedly climbed on and lounged as his tail dragged in the water. Once, when back from a trip across the lake, he climbed back aboard as if to say, “okay, let’s go back out.”

Passing time

2019-07-16T00:00:00-04:00

Sitting by the water, Nora and I occupy ourselves playing twenty questions about people, places, and things across nineteen years of shared experiences.

Casper on a rug

2019-05-13T00:00:00-04:00

Are podcasts making me even more solitary?

2019-02-21T00:00:00-05:00

I just started listening to Hidden Brains’ “Close Enough: The Lure Of Living Through Others.” I was expecting it to be the usual digital-self story I could skip, but I haven’t because of the focus on YouTube: a man who watches how-to videos instead of making stuff, a women who watches other womens’ meticulous bedtime routines to relax, and another woman who imagines being a musician without making the effort to do so.

I watch a lot of YouTube myself: how-to channels on boat building, lock picking, and knife making; explainers such as veritasium, CGP Grey, minutephysics, and Practical and Real Engineering; channels about alternative living and tiny homes. I was a huge fan of the user-generated content on Current TV – and was an early adopter of a DVR to remove the awful adverts – and I see YouTube as a fulfillment of its predecessor’s vision. Of course, not all of my 120+ subscriptions are user-generated: many news, visual arts, music, and documentary channels have mainstream media outlets as well. Still, I watch more YouTube than anything else, including Netflix. As someone who loves to learn, the allure is strong.

Although I don’t feel I’m living vicariously – and don’t feel guilty about watching YouTube, especially in the winter – I do have a different concern, in which podcasts are also implicated: I live a relatively solitary life. This has two obvious reasons: I am a shy introvert, and I’m well beyond the age of making lots of friends. Generally, that is fine, I live simply. I’m wholly content to spend a nice day with my spouse and our dog walking about the city, or sitting at the park and chatting with our dog friends. But I wonder if YouTube and Podcasts undercut one of my significant social drives: interesting conversation.

When I was younger and single, I’d spend my evenings in cafes. I could read, chat with newcomers and old favorites, and then leave when I wanted – a perfect scenario for an introvert. I also belonged to a few groups that welcomed heterodox discussions. I do have good conversations with my spouse, brothers, and students; I am fortunate. Still, I wonder if the quality and quantity of podcasts undercuts my motive to seek out good conversation? To put it in terms of the Hidden Brain episode, do I now live much of my conversational life vicariously?

Silver Lake at Breakheart Reservation

2018-11-21T00:00:00-05:00

Autumn Leaves at Breakheart Reservation

2018-11-05T00:00:00-05:00

Circles inside and out

2018-08-17T00:00:00-04:00

Recounting my cameras

2018-08-09T00:00:00-04:00

I look at my old photos often; it’s why a take them. I was recently wondering how many cameras I’ve had over the years (see Twitter).

After a Canon Rebel film DSLR in the mid-1990s, my first digital camera was the Fujifilm MX-1700. It was great to have a camera where I could see immediate results. It had 1.5 megapixels and was okay in bright light, but it struggled hard with indoor shots: lots of noise and slow shutter speeds, resulting in lots of blur. But I still have some favorite photos from then (1999). The Fujifilm MX-1700 was an odd looking camera, with a vertical design, but with the move to digital, why retain a film-based design?

In 2002, I moved to the FujiFilm F601ZOOM. At 3MP, its photos have twice as many pixels. Low light was still a struggle, and dynamic range was limited with plenty of blown out highlights.

Still, I have hundreds of photos from the F601ZOOM, some of which were in very difficult circumstances, like this concert photo of Matisyahu.

In 2007, I upgraded to the FujiFilm F40f. It had a horizontal point-and-shoot form factor. Digital SLRs were a thing now, but I prefer easy to carry compact cameras. Your best camera is the one you have on you.

The F40f was a modern camera, with a respectable 8M pixels, decent dynamic range, and facial detection auto-focus. I’d often hop on my restored muscle bicycle with the banana seat and ride around Red Hook Brooklyn.

I really miss those evening rides.

In 2011 features beyond megapixels started making a difference. I wanted to return to some of the manual control from film days but also go even smaller. I erred on the side of super compact: the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS. It was so tiny it was awesome. 2011 was also the year a certain fuzzy critter makes an appearance in the albums.

The ELPH was also so tiny it was also only useful as a point-and-shoot. I returned to FujiFilm via the XF1 in 2012. The XF1 was my first camera to have a fake background blur that is now common on smartphones. Neat for photos of ginger beer bottles, but not for anything with a fuzzy edge.

I began 2013 with the Sony RX100. A tiny camera with a 1-inch sensor and viewfinder. The inch sensor meant excellent dynamic range, good low light performance, and some control over background blur (e.g., Casper taking a bath). Five years later, I still find its images beautiful.

In 2014 the perfect compact camera arrived, the Lumix LX100. It had a M4/3 sensor, fast zoom (f1.7 at wide) and manual controls! For years I dismissed complaints about dust getting inside to others’ carelessness. But it happened to me in 2017. I paid to have it serviced, took it to Prague this year, and the sensor dust was back.

I still use it when shooting with an open aperture (where the dust isn’t visible), and hope the rumors of a better sealed LX100ii are true.

This incident prompted me to get my first interchangeable lens camera in twenty years, the GX85. I can blow any dust off the sensor myself. I also enjoy using a telephoto lens.

That’s nine cameras (mostly inexpensive digital compacts) over twenty-three years. Not too bad in a hobby beset by GAS (gear acquisition syndrome).

Vegan in Prague

2018-05-31T00:00:00-04:00

We haven’t been to Prague for seventeen years and much has changed in that time. Notably, there are now dozens of veg* restaurants. Every neighborhood has a few.

Nora and I use the “Vegan Guide to Prague” as our basis and collected a few notes along the way. These are roughly ordered in ascending preference.

Loving Hut: they are okay in a pinch, but I quickly tired of Asian-style buffets.
Maitrya: Buddhist themed, lackluster food. We asked for tap water and got expensive “vitalized water.”
Pure Bistro: a tiny bistro and store near our place, for which I was grateful.
Mlsná kavka: had an excellent veggie burger.
Herbivore: upscale bistro and store on the river with a buffet of good food – though the bread was stale.
Happy Bean: a bistro at which I got a great quesadilla with vegan cheese. The proprietor is very charming. Sidewalk seating is available.
The Donut Shop: next door to the Happy Bean, this shop offers three vegan donuts options, including one of the best donuts I’ve ever had. (Things aren’t so sweet in Prague, so you don’t end up feeling queasy when finishing a donut.)
Incruenti: I think our risotto and soup was the best food we had during our trip. Its menu and hours are limited though. Nice patio seating in the back.

Flowering tree

2018-05-08T00:00:00-04:00

Leaf on radiator

2017-11-27T00:00:00-05:00

The window open
a leaf on the radiator
A warm November

Autumn Acorn

2017-09-12T00:00:00-04:00

Autumn announces itself with the pinging of acorns on car hoods

Bee on a flower

2017-09-01T00:00:00-04:00

The paradox and pragmatics of intolerance

2017-08-15T00:00:00-04:00

In What White Supremacists Don’t Want You to Know, Valerie Aurora highlights Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance and argues it is relevant to our response to neo-Nazis of today.

For his part, Popper was writing during the end World War II and was likely thinking about the tepid response to the original Nazis. Although they forced him to flee his home in Vienna, the Nazis are not mentioned in Open Society. Nonetheless, in a very long footnote, Popper consider the various “paradoxes” associated with open societies, including the paradox of tolerance.

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal. (Popper1966?, fn. 4, p.581)

Aurora applies this to the white-supremacy of today:

a tolerant society should tolerate protest marches in general, but it shouldn’t tolerate a white supremacist march advocating for the oppression and killing of people of color – like the march in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017 that ended with white supremacists beating and killing people who were opposed to their message of intolerance.

I think I first came across this notion by way of Aurora some time ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I had hoped it would help me resolve my dueling values of being tolerant but also defending tolerance. Unfortunately, when I think about particular cases, I fear its resolution is dependent on who gets to define what is intolerant. I can imagine both sides of a debate making claims of intolerance about the other side. For example, those wanting to suppress Muslim immigration can claim Islam is a religion of intolerance and should not be welcomed/tolerated. Those in support of immigration will claim that this position is intolerant itself.

This then sent me in search of a rubric for judging intolerant defenses of tolerance. For example, how should we judge the punching of a neo-Nazi? My thinking has been aided by Yonatan Zunger’s “Tolerance is not a moral precept”; he characterizes tolerance as a type of peace contract with worthwhile ends, not a moral precept.

Tolerance is not a moral absolute; it is a peace treaty. Tolerance is a social norm because it allows different people to live side-by-side without being at each other’s throats. It means that we accept that people may be different from us, in their customs, in their behavior, in their dress, in their sex lives, and that if this doesn’t directly affect our lives, it is none of our business. But the model of a peace treaty differs from the model of a moral precept in one simple way: the protection of a peace treaty only extends to those willing to abide by its terms. It is an agreement to live in peace, not an agreement to be peaceful no matter the conduct of others. A peace treaty is not a suicide pact.

Even so, Zunger acknowledges that conflicts might be unresolvable.

If everything you have ever learned tells you that this is a real and present danger, and that certain members of the community — members of another religion, perhaps, or people of the wrong sexual orientation — are jeopardizing everyone’s safety, then a fundamental, existential conflict is inevitable. In a situation like this, there can be no peace treaty; only war or separation.

This is a useful framework, but I’m still in search of a rubric.

Perhaps the following questions about the initial act of intolerance and subsequent defense could serve as a start.

The initial intolerance (i.e., some exclusionary/hateful behavior)

Is it born of a deep or long-lasting culture? Germans feel differently about neo-Nazis than Americans, for obvious reasons.
Is it a significant or growing threat? A lone kook is less of a concern than an organized militia.
What is the balance of genuine vs possible harm? Advocating for white culture is less of a concern (even if a “dog whistle”) than calls for genocide and violence.

The intolerant defense of tolerance (i.e., suppression of above)

Is the response proportional?
Is it likely to be effective?
Is it applied fairly/equitably?
Is it narrow in scope?
Will it set precedent?
What other values (e.g., speech and religion) are implicated?

Monday morning Casper

2017-08-11T00:00:00-04:00

Colorful carousel

2017-08-11T00:00:00-04:00

Mount William Pond, Weare NH

2017-07-31T00:00:00-04:00

The Magnetic Fields

2017-03-10T00:00:00-05:00

Merritt and The Magnetic Fields have a new album out.

Coincidentally, Nora and I met thanks to DJ Chris Ewen, longtime Merritt collaborator. We even have “Manray” engraved inside our wedding rings – and plan to go dancing at Xmortis tonight.

My favorite song off the album so far is “Be True to Your Bar.” Though, I don’t drink and the only bars I’ve frequented were those that Nora was tending. She’d put my “three fingers of cranberry” in a tumbler, and people would ask about the exotic red liquor I was drinking.

Remains

2017-02-20T00:00:00-05:00

Acorn caps on snow
Remains of a squirrel’s
recent dinner

Late summer sleep

2016-08-23T00:00:00-04:00

Autumn approaches
The dog returns to his crate
For his evening bed

Dubrovnik Croatia

2016-05-25T00:00:00-04:00

Valley of fire

2015-11-23T00:00:00-05:00

Snoring

2015-10-05T00:00:00-04:00

A dog’s snoring is like birdsong in a forest: a sign that all is well.

Late summer

2015-09-09T00:00:00-04:00

Dust bunnies still dance amidst the spinning blades But dusk comes early

Wolfe’s Neck Park

2015-09-08T00:00:00-04:00

Beautiful Big Sur

2015-07-13T00:00:00-04:00

Shelburne Falls

2015-06-09T00:00:00-04:00

Sadly, you can no longer swim in Shelburne Falls as we did back in 2001; but it’s still beautiful.

Warm Day

2015-05-04T00:00:00-04:00

wearing shorts
a wet nose nudges
dog wants to play

Busker and Dog

2015-05-02T00:00:00-04:00

Walking Red

2015-04-14T00:00:00-04:00

Winter Sky

2015-02-28T00:00:00-05:00

Lying in the snow
The dog perched on my chest
Contrails quickly fade

Snow

2015-02-25T00:00:00-05:00

Busy at Night

2014-11-24T00:00:00-05:00

Casper in the Charles

2014-10-02T00:00:00-04:00

Fire Breathers

2014-08-11T00:00:00-04:00

Boston Circus Guild at the Union Sq Ignite festival.

Taking a break

2014-06-30T00:00:00-04:00

Seattle, Edwards Park

2014-05-28T00:00:00-04:00

Veg food in Seattle

2014-05-28T00:00:00-04:00

When traveling, we are grateful for the ubiquity of Subway’s veggie patty – though it sadly is not vegan. During our trip to Seattle, we considered ourselves lucky not to have to resort to Subway.

Flora Cafe: beautiful space with a top-notch brunch; I loved the gravy and biscuits.
Plum Bistro: warm wood decor with a yummy brunch.
CyberDogs: storied venue with varied vegetarian hotdog meals.

Casco Bay, Ft. Williams

2014-05-19T00:00:00-04:00

Zen Cinemagraph

2014-04-16T00:00:00-04:00

Fresh Pond

2014-03-08T00:00:00-05:00

Building

2014-03-07T00:00:00-05:00

American Gothic

2014-02-19T00:00:00-05:00

Fishes and Ponds

2013-12-17T00:00:00-05:00

I’d rather be well-liked by those nearby and unknown to those afar than to be a famous jerk. (Of course, I sometimes fear I’m a little-known jerk to all.)

36

2013-06-24T00:00:00-04:00

Duisburg

2013-05-17T00:00:00-04:00

Wolfe’s Neck Park, Maine

2013-04-30T00:00:00-04:00

Mass MoCa

2013-02-25T00:00:00-05:00

Karma and interbeing

2013-02-22T00:00:00-05:00

I’ve always liked the expression that something “gives off more heat than light”: in some circumstances ideas can hinder more than help. Buddhism has similar sayings. A teaching can be thought of as a finger pointing to the moon, but it should not be confused with the moon. A concept can be like a raft used to cross a river, but one should not cling to the raft once one has reached the other shore. Finally, if you see the Buddha, kill the Buddha.

I tend to view the notion of karma as one of these confounding concepts. Karma is often used in the sense of vengeance or divine justice: “karma sucks dude” seems contrary to the much more useful notion of compassion. And lest you think this is just a Western corruption, conservative Hindus and Buddhists use the idea much like an ignorant preacher blaming a natural disaster on homosexuality. (In fact, some Hindus blamed the 2004 tsunami on the growth of Christianity in India.)

However, there is an idea in Buddhism, interbeing, that after years of reflection has brought me to an understanding of what karma might mean. A practice of mine is that when I’m considering someone I do not like I think “had I been born with their biology into their circumstances, I would be just like them.” This is karma in the Zen sense: “this then that.” I like this meditation because it exemplifies interdependence, furthers compassion, and challenges the very notion of “I” and “them.” Some might be troubled that this seems deterministic, that there is no free will or accountability. As I’ve written elsewhere, even if we live in a deterministic universe we’re still accountable moral beings. And, if one is fortunate to have some measure of grace (either by birth, disposition, or even in overcoming difficult circumstances) one can affect the conditions of others for the better. (See the story of the sadistic killer Angulimala’s redemption.)

It snowed

2013-02-12T00:00:00-05:00

Hack your mental health

2013-01-25T00:00:00-05:00

Of late there’s been much discussion of depression and suicide among geeks. (See Clay Shirky’s thoughtful piece.) Yet, like Valerie Aurora, I find much of it to be a “torrent of well-meaning but patronizing advice to suicidal people.” While I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression I also believe people have a right to die. What is tragic is when people commit suicide out of desperation. That is, they did not have the time or resources to deal with mental illness or life’s difficult circumstances –especially if those circumstances are unnecessary, as it is with bullying. Most tragically, many delay or forgo treatment because of attitudes of shame or “gumption.”

A 2007 study in the journal Psychiatric Services looked at 303 mental health patients who had, in the past year, thought about going to the doctor but decided against it. The researchers asked them why. The most frequent response, from 66 percent of the patients, had to do with attitude: They thought the problem would get better on its own. Seventy-one percent agreed with the statement “I wanted to solve the problem on my own.” Cost was a barrier too: 47 percent cited financial obstacles as a reason not to seek treatment. Still, attitudinal barriers about the value of mental health care seemed to be be the biggest obstacle. – Seven facts about America’s mental health-care system

My own attitude was affected by the following insight: untreated depression and anxiety is physically unhealthy. In addition to the excruciating mental anguish, they compound other problems, such as chronic pain and sleep disorders, and can even damage your brain. You wouldn’t continue to bear the pain of walking on a broken foot and possibly throw out a knee or your back as well, so why let this go?

Hence, as a geek, I think of my own issues as a brain with some bugs, but also one I can hack. That sounds silly and trite, but it helps me lighten up. One of my favorite Buddhist teachers, Sylvia Boorstein, similarly refers to this as a “neurological glitch.” In her awesome interview with Krista Tippit she notes:

There are people who are given to fretting without a fretful environment. I think it’s actually a genetic glitch of neurology and that it happens to some people and not for other people…. This is what happens when I’m challenged… I tell people that my glitch is that “when in doubt, worry.” It came with the equipment. I’m also short and I have brown eyes. If I could see that in the same neutral [way], it just came with the equipment, then I don’t have to feel bad about it, but I can work with it wisely.

We can work wisely with and hack many bugs (or glitches). Yoga, swimming, petting a dog, eating well, getting some sun, maintaining relationships, and cognitive behavior therapy are all DIY hacks known to be effective. (I also get a lot of this with Buddhism: mindfulness, meditation, and sangha.) I’ve also greatly benefited from medication when needed. That said, should I ever feel that my suffering (whatever its source) is too great and irreversible, I reserve the option to exit DIY style. And if I do that, it won’t be rash; I’ve been through the wringer enough to know that things can get better. However, whenever and however I do die, I hope to do it mindfully and with compassion for myself and others. I’ve owned a copy of Final Exit, in one edition or another, for over a decade. I hope to have it for many decades more. Its yellowing pages reminds me of the suffering I’ve surmounted; its continued presence reassures me that I have options when my time has come.

Hand and hair

2013-01-17T00:00:00-05:00

To save trees, bathrooms lack paper towels. To dry hands, my head thankfully still has hair.

Baking Scars

2013-01-14T00:00:00-05:00

While I like tattoos and a few piercings, I’m not so fond of ear stretching or purposeful scarification. However, I am proud of my baking scars.

The most recent scab, gained via a pot pie, is presently a minor nuisance. But the scars on the outer portions of my (palm side) wrists are kind of elegant. They are the result of my weekly pizza baking as I place and retrieve the pizza from the bottom of the oven without having first removed the lowest wire wrack.

Self-determination theory

2013-01-14T00:00:00-05:00

Self-determination theory posits three psychological needs:

autonomy: control over your life, such as what you work on
competence: satisfaction in your performance, such as mastering a skill
psychological relatedness: good relations with others, including that one is appreciated

Peak-a-boo

2012-12-28T00:00:00-05:00

Wingaersheek Beach

2012-09-23T00:00:00-04:00

Nap Time

2012-08-31T00:00:00-04:00

Korean Food

2012-08-07T00:00:00-04:00

Thoughts on Koreans

2012-08-06T00:00:00-04:00

Young Korean women primp and photograph themselves as if they might forget their own faces.

Older Korean women wear big visors, have little dogs, and cover arms and hands as if the sun is instant death.

Older Korean men deck out in hiking gear as if they will soon be trecking Patagonia.

Korean Buddha’s sport thin mustaches as if they wish to beguile prajna.

enn-jay’s Notes of a Honeymoon has a more detailed recounting of our trip.

Raarrr

2012-04-29T00:00:00-04:00

Rocker

2012-03-29T00:00:00-04:00

Closeup

2011-09-04T00:00:00-04:00

Sleeping

2011-09-04T00:00:00-04:00

New blog

2011-09-01T00:00:00-04:00

Until now, every page on this site was hand-coded. It was a great way to learn and experiment with HTML and CSS—sometimes each month had a custom design. I now prefer something easier, so I’m moving my blogging to Pelican, a static blog generator.

You can find older entries here.