Eclectic Living
Through his narcissism, mendacity, greed, ignorance, misogyny, racism, anti-democracy, un-Americanism, and sociopathy, Donald Trump has inadvertently begun a process that could Make America Great. Trump has galvanized most Americans to push for progressive reforms and policies that could ultimately usher in a new era of prosperity, equality, environmentalism, and (one hopes) a UNITED States of... Continue Reading →
I am a fortunate individual. I have enjoyed a lot of freedom in my adult life, and now, at 46 years old, I'm blessed to be financially independent. Getting here has been a mixture of privilege, fortune, good decisions, and hard work (probably in about that order). Now, if you're willing to stick around for the... Continue Reading →
How did everybody's ultra-conservative uncle - the one who forwards Snopes-disproven emails and thinks Sean Hannity is an unassailable authority on everything - become the President of the United States? He nakedly displays his ignorance and baseness so regularly that statements that would normally be disqualifying for the presidency have become quotidian. Witness his recent... Continue Reading →
My optimism stems largely from a belief in progress. Progress is the inevitable outcome of accumulated knowledge and enlightenment. As we understand the world better, understand ourselves better, we come to understand how to improve the world and our place in it. The Progressive approach is guided by reason and virtue. In many regards (hunger,... Continue Reading →
Car rights supporters are up in arms about measures that have curbed their freedom. The most egregious of these car controls is speed limits on how fast one can drive. "By imposing these limits on how fast I can drive," Carl, a car rights activist said, "they have taken my freedom to go as fast... Continue Reading →
A Note from Poppa: Today we have brought in a very special guest to the Cottage. Watch his tremendous proposal to Make America Great Again. Or you can read the full transcript below. Not since Jonathan Swift has someone come up with such a magnificent proposal. https://youtu.be/6KKr4oYwAPs A Tremendous Proposal For building a big beautiful wall – a real... Continue Reading →
Here at the Cottage, my family and I, like most of the world, were shocked/stunned/surprised (dumbfounded, flabbergasted, stupefied, blindsided, bewildered, nutpunched?) that Donald Trump was elected president earlier this month. As what was supposed to be celebratory wine turned to bitter anodyne, a tumultuous fracas erupted in my head. My id, assholish as always, battled... Continue Reading →
I'm in my fourth month of time-restricted intermittent fasting - primarily eating in a six-hour window between 2 and 8 p.m. Along the way, I've been getting my cholesterol tested (results forthcoming). In addition to intermittent fasting, I've instituted three different diet phases. After the initial whatever/whenever diet (not so good for my cholesterol or... Continue Reading →
I spent the morning channeling Donald Trump. I feel for the guy - he just doesn't get much media play. So I figured, via the huge readership of this blog, maybe we can garner some much-needed attention for The Donald. Donald Trump has been variously described as a narcissist, a fascist, and a psychopath. Of... Continue Reading →
Some friends and I recently had an email discussion about who the greatest living artist is. We figured Bob Dylan, although he wasn't necessarily any of our first choices, might win a national poll. The guy that started the discussion was a big proponent of KRS-One. Some other names we batted around were Toni Morrison, Mikhail Baryshnikov,... Continue Reading →
Poppa's Cottage 