In Defense of Libraries

I'm on vacation in Europe and thinking a lot about civilization, the pros and cons etc. I've decided I'm in favor of civilization (except when it gets in my way) so I wanted to write an important defense of libraries and librarians. If, like me, you care about looking cultivated, you'll forward this around. read more

If our RSS Feed Just Went Crazy, We're Sorry

It's obnoxious, but whenever we change something significant with our RSS feed, things go awry with it. Please don't hate us. We had to change the way our feed behaved and whenever we do that, it can cause a bunch of older items to appear marked as 'unread' in your feed reader. We're sorry. And besides, XML is pseudoscience anyway; it's the most nonsense technology I've ever had to learn about. read more

Devilish Curiosity

I remember it clearly, as if it all happened yesterday. Tony and I were playing chess and I was winning, which is no surprise to me because in all my memories I win at chess. read more

Comedy Central and Wrongcards, Part One

When my phone began to vibrate around on my desk I didn't answer at first, because my ring tone is the first minute of Tank!, the theme from Cowboy Bebop, and it's a particularly good piece of music. read more

The Petrol Station Incident

Roughly nine years ago I found myself marooned in Melbourne for several months with no job and no money. I lived alone in a small closet in Toorak on the dole. When I wasn't writing job applications or nervously attending interviews I studied a programming language called Java. I read a lot of books but generally felt uneasy about the nothingness that seemed to be happening to me exclusively. read more

Blueberry Scone and Tall Americano

I'm not a man who likes to perpetuate myths about himself but I can't exactly help it if fate herself has decreed that I must be an International Man of Mystery. So I like to share my occasional indignities with the world so you'll see that in many ways I am just like you, though I might have slightly better hair. read more

Instilling Fear

Kids these days aren't sufficiently scared of bears. Think about it. We, as a species, seem to think we have nature completely beat because most of us don't sleep outdoors anymore. But it's when you've stopped being afraid of bears that you know your civilization is on the decline. read more

Ever So Busy Being Busy

You know the phrase 'working non-stop'? People throw it around far too lightly. read more