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Three Good Things for Thursday, March 21st

I've spent the past week dreading a conversation that I'm going to have to have tomorrow with a member of my team. Doing the actual work of managing is definitely my weak spot as a manager - I would much prefer that everyone on my team simply function optimally without my having to exercise any power to make it so.  Then again, I remember Douglas Adam's insight about power, that those who are the most motivated to seek out power are those who are least suited to use it, and at least I know I'm on the right side of the equation there. At any rate, my overarching Good Thing tonight is that by lunch tomorrow I'll have at least had that conversation, and be done with dreading it. On to the more granular good things: 1. The Shitty Camera Challenge Sweatshop. My friend Adam created The Shitty Camera Challenge (a contest whose main mandate was the use of a camera that was cheaper than the roll of film inside it) on Twitter some years back as a way of exploring photography
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Three Good Things for Tuesday, March 19th

It snuck up on me that today was the Vernal Equinox. Usually we try to recognize the equinoxes and solstices but nobody had the gusto. I sure didn't - I've got a Dreaded Task on Friday looming over me, and had to clean up both a cat puke and a cat carpet-poo tonight, so am feeling at my very least reverent.  In spite of the extra work and the occasional grossness, these two guys are pretty swell. Look, they're learning to snuggle! Okay, that was the 1st thing, on to the rest. 2. Rosemary Mosco. Rosemary is an artist, writer, and speaker whose passion for the natural world is evident in her (often ornithological) cartoons from her website https://www.birdandmoon.com . Her father died last month, and today on Facebook she posted a beautiful and heartbreaking comic about her grief:  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/9WqspK6q1ZaumMoe/?mibextid=oFDknk . Grief is so universal and at the same time so horribly particular, and it can be hard to capture or communicate. Embracing the f

Three Good Things for Sunday, March 17th

1. The Leprechaun Brothers. St Patrick's Day doesn't have the same resonance for me that it did in college, when it was a great excuse to drink all day. Being sober definitely takes the gloss off the major drinking holidays, and I've also always felt resentful about holidays that come with a dress code and enforcement mechanism. Excuse me, you want to pinch me on what basis?!? That said, I do love the yearly excuse to revisit three of my favorite Muppets: https://youtu.be/OCbuRA_D3KU?feature=shared 2. Stringsfest. Yesterday the two older kids participated in the annual Stringsfest, in which the students in the strings programs of every elementary school and middle school that feed into the high schools in town perform a concert in the high school gym. This means close to a thousand kids and probably thrice that many family members and teachers filing an entire giant-ass gym to capacity.  When I played in this as a kid, my dad described the sound of it (unbeknownst to me) as

Three Good Things for Friday, March 15th

Beware!!! March 15th in Ohio was usually warm enough that a couple of guys could sit in the rocking chairs on the student union porch, drinking beers and hollering at passersby if they didn't seem to be in an appropriate state of bewareness, and that's just how my friend Pendar and I spent several Ideses. For tonight's post, photos from Ides of yore. 1. March 15, 2020, taking a walk to Vilas Beach with the kids. 2. March 15, 2016, puddle selfie on a walk in Oakland. 3. March 15th, 2012, sorrel blossom in Oakland.

Three Good Things for Thursday, March 14th

Another day where I'm dragging my finger over my phone feeling too beat to blog. It's honestly good - I've been busy at work getting several projects up and running, and after a period of feeling a little stalled out the wheels have started turning and it's exciting to see things falling into place! The downside is that it's a lot of executive function energy and the end of the day has been finding me pretty fried. Geez, I even fell asleep on the couch tonight after dinner and I don't know when the last time was that happened! But I'm so grateful to be feeling the kind of tired that is the result of hard work, rather than the numbed out stupefaction of stumbling through meaningless tasks.  Okay, three good things before I totally run out of gas: 1. Pi Day. When your kids ask what the family plans are for Pi Day, at 5:15pm on Pi Day, the temptation to reply, "none whatsoever," is tremendous. For me, at least. My wife Sarah is made of sterner stuff,

Three Good Things for Wednesday, March 13th

I've been busting my little heinder at work the last few days, so have not had much writing energy in the evenings. I've got a couple longer bits in mind to write about tomorrow, but tonight is another bite-sized nuggets edition: 1. Leo the Killer. That's what happens if you dare to move a toe underneath the blanket. If you dare to move a toe on top of the blanket, he will lick you until your skin hurts. 2. London Fog. My current favorite coffeeshop order for those times when I can tell I'm on the verge of the caffeine jitters. 3. Camera Kwanon. I know it wasn't for very long, but it still tickles me that the Canon camera company was originally named after the Buddhist goddess of mercy and compassion. If I wasn't more of a Nikon guy I'd consider getting this as a tattoo.

Three Good Things for Monday, March 11th

This is going to be short, and I'm going to take the easy scapegoat and blame Daylight Savings. So a quick 3 before bed: 1. Crocuses. They're up everywhere, and I'm resigned on some level to how early this Spring has sprung. For the moment I'm glad to be microdosing color again. 2. Girl Scout Cookies. They got me this past Saturday. I engaged in one of the classic blunders: going grocery shopping with a $20 in my pocket. Gaze upon the burdens of my error! 3. Jack. This little dude got a clean bill of health at his first vet appointment today, and charmed the socks off of everyone he met. The vet thinks he might be as young as six or seven months, and that a lot of his frustrating food fixations might be temporary. He's an awfully sweet little scamp and I'm awfully glad he's part of the family.