A message to my younger self

When I found this picture in a box of old photos a few days ago, I knew right away it was going on my blog. I’m 22 years old in this moment, fresh out of college and ready for whatever Life throws at me. The much older man who is sharing this image from the

Telling Mr. Hand “Aloha”

My first attempt at blogging came several years before I started this blog, and I named it “AlohaSpicoli.” I’m not even inclined to provide a link here, but if anyone reads this and wants to go seek it out, be my guest. Just be aware that the guy writing those posts isn’t  much like the

Looking toward the future

The internet is a tool that nobody has ever had before us. A few minutes online, and a few keywords, are all we need to answer nearly any question we can think of, or to see images that once took weeks or months to track down. If you had explained all of this to me

All you create

The best thing about writing in this space–the reason I continue doing it–is that it is a creative enterprise. Listening to the radio this morning, I heard “Eclipse” which is the last song on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album. And the line about “All you create, and all you destroy” set my

Filling in the digital canvas

One of the things that I love about the internet is that the vast majority still needs to be filled in. It’s like a mostly empty notebook, with the pages in place, but nothing to turn them away from their original blank state. It’s the tabula rasa of the 21st century, at least. The world of

I ain’t gonna live forever

I admit it. I’ve probably missed out–entirely–on the commercial possibilities of the internet. It was the single biggest thing that’s come along in my lifetime, and with some kind of business or technical savvy, it could have been a gold mine. It still is, probably, but I’m lacking in the inclination to figure out just

Working on my serve

I love to make analogies. The first time I remember doing it was in college, where I likened some philosophical debate to a game of tennis. The professor wrote a note in the margin of my paper, saying how my analogy made the issue seem more concrete. After that, I was off and running with

The future of books

If I haven’t admitted this before, I love having books. I enjoy reading them, but there’s also something about surrounding yourself with lots of books. I think it makes a statement about valuing the written word. I frequently go to yard sales and book fairs, searching for old books that I can buy for a