New Job! … Again…

Hello fiends.  So, long story short, things didn't pan out at Harper as I hoped they would.  I thought the full-time program coordinator position was mine, but turns out, surprise, no it's not.  They hired somebody else.  And it stung a bit. But, the truth is before Harper was even on the radar I was …

Relaxing with Baths and TMI

As a twenty-something living with his fiancee in a non-air conditioned Chicago apartment, a cool bath in the summer was how I tolerated most of July and August.  And when the gas bill was just too high, a hot bath was a good way to get rid of the goosebumps, at least for a little while....

My Book Cover

I haven't posted in a week because I've taken my own advice and spent a lot of time writing.  But obviously not blog posts.  I've been reading through my novel and making a few final edits, and I think I'll be ready to self-publish it soon. I made a book cover on Canva.  It's free, …

On Happy Moments

I’m going to skip ahead a little in The Importance Of Living for this one, just because this is a section I think would be worth revisiting several times.  Let me start with a quote and then explain more: CHIN'S THIRTY-THREE HAPPY MOMENTS Chin Shengt'an, that great impressionistic critic of the seventeenth century, has given …

Chapter One: On not giving a f—

Chapter one of The Importance Of Living opens with the line: In what follows I am presenting the Chinese point of view, because I cannot help myself. Which I think is a pretty hilarious opening line.  I’ve actually found, despite what that sentence actually says, that’s it’s very easy to read this book in a …

Hurry Up And Relax

Only those who take leisurely what the people of the world are busy about can be busy about what the people of the world take leisurely. CHANG CH’AO (quote from the opening of The Importance of Living) I have no reason to lie to you, so I have to admit I read that at least …

Apologies (more preface)

The rest of the preface of The Importance of Living is, more or less, an apology from the author for not being a proper philosopher. I am not original.  The ideas expressed here have been thought and expressed by many thinkers of the East and West over and over again… And so I would also …

Preface (And some stuff about me)

The Preface of The Importance of Living begins with these lines: This is a personal testimony, a testimony of my own experience of thought and life.  It is not intended to be objective and makes no claim to establish eternal truths.   Same.  I’m just a guy on a journey, but I’m not exactly sure …

Judging By The Cover

The Importance of Living.    From the book jacket: A tremendous bestseller when it was first published in 1937, The Importance of Living has been a classic for over sixty years.  Intended as an antidote to the dizzying pace of the modern world, Lin Yutang’s prescription is the classic distillation of ancient Chinese wisdom: revere …

Intro To My Lazy Scamp Initiative

My Lazy Scamp Initiative The character of Dexter, on the show of the same name, often referred to his “dark companion,” that demanded he: Kill kill kill!   I have a similar, albeit less violent, companion.  Having been raised Catholic, even though I was never what one would call a good Catholic, the whole experience …