Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Seventh Week
A mantra for a Monday morning: I just have to survive one more week of this pandemic and then next Monday I shall wake up and repeat this mantra one … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Sixth Week
Now that the emergency has ended the CDC maps the nation’s current rate of plague deaths on a scale from minimal to high and while this is an understandable way … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Fifth Week
That our leaders and our institutions and our employers and even most of our neighbors have surrendered to the plague is the real emergency it is an emergency that persists. … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Fourth Week
When I despair my spiritual friend tells me to keep in mind that things may be rough here but that there are a nearly infinite number of world and realities … Continue reading
What I Wish I Had Known Before Writing My Dissertation
So, you’re getting ready to write a dissertation. Or, you’re contemplating going down a path that (if taken) will eventually require you to write a dissertation. Good for you. Normally, … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Third Week
They say don’t be too presumptuous all of this is new nobody can honestly tell you what will happen to you after you’ve had it ten or twenty times, and … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-Second Week
Here is a joke: What does this latest concerning variant have in common with the previous concerning variant? This latest concerning variant like the previous concerning variant is sure to … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixty-First Week
Walking is good for you at least that’s what was said in an article I read the other day and that is surely a comforting idea to keep in the … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Sixtieth Week
Forgive me but I must confess that I do not find the claim that this virus which still ranks as the third leading cause of death is no longer a … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Ninth Week
At first, I told myself that I just had to make it to the summer then I told myself that I just had to make it to the vaccine after … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Eighth Week
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a welcome reminder that the pandemic is not the only crisis where we know what we need to be … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Seventh Week
My apologies I am not trying to be pedantic but it is dangerous to confuse having survived three years of the pandemic with having survived the pandemic. * In case … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Sixth Week
We tell ourselves that the current affliction overwhelming all of us is a cold just a particularly brutal cold and because that is all it is we need not bother … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Fifth Week
We blame the pandemic for everything, it is at fault: for our unsatisfactory jobs and our dating prospects for our children’s grades and our political divisions. Yes, we blame the … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Fourth Week
I often wonder when it will be that my efforts will have been enough when I can stop with all of these precautions once and for all and go back … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Third Week
All of the attention on unidentified flying objects is a pleasant distraction from needing to think about the airborne virus we’ve identified. * Where once images of the cheering crowd … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-Second Week
While it is refreshing to see so many people grow concerned about an airborne threat I just wish that what worried them was the plague and not a balloon. * … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fifty-First Week
When she asks me to grab her one of the test-kits from the stack under the sink I notice that it expired months ago it is as if the test-kit … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Fiftieth Week
No one really cares if you are afraid just so long, that is, as you keep it to yourself if frightened you may be pitied but mainly you will be … Continue reading
“Computers enable fantasies” – On the continued relevance of Weizenbaum’s warnings
“The computer has long been a solution looking for problems—the ultimate technological fix which insulates us from having to look at problems.” – Joseph Weizenbaum (1983) Trying to keep … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Ninth Week
Everybody loves a good post-apocalyptic tale for it reassures us that though the present moment may be quite bad the future could always be worse. * According to the news … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Eighth Week
I can acknowledge that I panicked during the first few days of the pandemic I stocked up on too much toilet paper and hand sanitizer bagged rice and dried beans … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Seventh Week
The year is new the plague is old. * A mantra for the start of the year: I will spend less time staring at screens and more time gazing at … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Sixth Week
When you unwrapped holiday gifts with your family I hope that you received exactly what you wanted and if what you received was not what you wanted I hope it … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Fifth Week
What sets this winter apart from last winter and the one before that is that this winter we really cannot pretend that we haven’t been warned. * The newspaper of … Continue reading
A Luddite Library
“If the Luddites had never existed, their critics would have to invent them.” – Theodor Roszak One way of telling that controversies about technology are intensifying is to watch … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Fourth Week
Is there a prayer to say at the start of a new wave? Yes, there is a prayer to say at the start of a new wave: I pray that … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Third Week
Please be advised: when they told you that you could bring a plus one to the holiday party they were not inviting you to bring the plague. * It’s nothing … Continue reading
Plague Poems – The Hundred-and-Forty-Second Week
When they hear you say that you are sick and tired they will ask if you mean it literally or figuratively to which you are free to reply with a … Continue reading
Waiting for the Fail Whale – What Y2K can teach us about Twitter
“What we use is not ours simply because we use it.” – Erich Fromm Breakdowns have an annoying habit of not arriving on time. It often seems as if … Continue reading
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