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Other People’s Words: Happiness
These words are from Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill by Matthieu Ricard and translated by Jesse Browner. I really enjoy this book, and would encourage you to read it. This quote is about the difference between genuine happiness and what we often think of as means of achieving it. Once at…
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Review: An Unreasonable Man
Before we begin, you should know that I have long harbored some affection for Ralph Nader. In 2004, when I was just starting to get seriously interested in politics, I saw him speak. Nader seemed to me to be the best candidate for President. He cared about and talked about issues that the other two…
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The Torturous Minutes
The alternate title for this was “Why I Like Being Sleep Deprived.” But I feel that both of these titles require some explanation. The first thing you should know it that I’ve long thought, or perhaps I was told, that when you struggle to fall asleep at night, it’s because you don’t physically need to.…
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Fiction: Conversations I Don’t Have with my Dog
Lucky (that’s his name) stands there staring at me. “What?” I ask. “I just fed you.” He keeps staring at me. Not blinking (do dogs blink?) not looking away. Again, “What?” Nothing. “You’re thinking about something. Wait, let me guess. You’re wondering about the purpose of existence. Whether there’s a reason we’re here. You’re thinking…
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Review: Creature Comforts (US)
Though I had not intent to review this TV show, I find it hard not to. But to really explain, I have to explain how I found it. I’d seen the ads and thought it looked cute, if a little boring. So when I found it while flipping channels one day, I paused and watched.…
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Changing the World with Ideas
I was raised Catholic. And, for a time, I convinced myself that I was a saint. Not just any saint, I went further than that. I convinced myself that I was the Christian Messiah. I was the second-coming of Christ. To the extent that I understood such things as the immaculate conception and virgin-birth, they…
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Misguided Reform: The Problem of the Guest Worker
Though I wrote this about a year ago, as a response to the large immigration reform/guest worker program which was then tied to President Bush, I think it relevance is renewed by the new bill and the new push [dead link removed, 12/28/07] to get it passed. Those parts not relevant to the current legislation…
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On Graduation
One month ago today, I graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder. The ceremony was rather large and anonymous. This was not unexpected: commencement ceremonies are rarely the intimate gatherings that perhaps they should be, especially not at a large state school. Though I could go on, I prefer to discuss the event’s significance.…