Accidental Genius or Madman? You Decide.

It feels like my future has been gutted. My skills are no longer valuable, and there is little to offer in terms of "human creativity" which AI has not yet supplanted.

Microchips enclosed in humanoid bodies can walk, talk, and pack boxes now. And just like a real human, anything the robot can't do will be quickly remediated with on-the-job training. Not for you, but for the robot. That's all it takes for the 'perfect' workforce: teach one robot a skill and the entire silicon workforce knows it now too.

Fantastic! Who the fuck can compete with that?!

It was not uncommon for teen-aged me to muse about what it'd be like to run a very large, very successful software company. For my family, this was easily attributed to me carving out a future identity. At that age I was pumping out a lot of low-rate, low-effort applications in HyperCard. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was convinced I would figure it out along the way.

By my 30's, only a tiny subset of the software I had written was ever released to the public, but I did manage to hit a few milestones: My software has been reviewed and discussed in 2 books, several magazines and software CDs, online repositories, and shared among users in forums across a wide range of topics.

Despite that much reach, I was never really sure if I would have measured up to the bar set by my younger self. "Times the revelator," as Gillian Welch sang.

Some of these pieces still work on contemporary machines, quirks and all. I'll share serial numbers if I find one, feel free to crack 'em if you want. Until then, enjoy some free software from a bygone era.

Ah, behold my personal 'Insta-What-The-Hell.' Let's not get lost in names; the point is, societal absurdities haven't stopped me from wielding a camera as expeditiously as blue rattles end up in children's mouths. Why blue? Well aren't you perceptive! Because that was the color of the first rattle within reach, which coincidentally is now the predominate color of my wardrobe.

Snapped these gems between '16 and '19. They resonate. Dive in.

We've seen these echos of history before. A seemingly endless cycle of ignoring the difficult reality of our ancestry. "hampstering" endlessly without meaningful progress towards a common goal. How many times must we repeat the same mistakes before we accept the severe cost of our collective failure?

If there is no solution, the alternative is too terrible for words.

The alternative is civil war, and what must be realized by everybody on all sides is that nobody gains from this.

On one side, what use is one man, one vote if you're not there to exercise it, and on the other side, what is the use of maintaining a situation of privilege and power over a desert?

The price of no solution is total destruction.

John Hume, "Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland," Episode 1 - "It Wasn’t Like a Movie Anymore." WGBH Video

"If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?" I'm so often reminded of this cliche when vetting the never-ending pile of cultural "best practices" people center their lives upon. After just two years of living in Nevada I am thoroughly convinced that homeownership is still the default answer when most decide between renting or buying, despite recent setbacks.

Houses have sprung up around me faster than I could have ever imagined. Parking lots are constantly littered with fliers from realtors and investors. Television commercials and internet ads are dominated by mortgage lenders. Yet to this day, when I tell my neighbors that I choose to live in an apartment instead of buying a home, I'm nearly always met with the same rebuff: you're throwing my money away.

Approaching the end of Spring, 2015, I received an announcement from the 90's "space rock" band Failure. Though Failure struggled to achieve commercial success prior to their breakup in 1997, the advent of digital music distribution saw a noticeable increase in the band's popularity. Failure reunited in 2014, one year before the announcement of their fourth studio album, The Heart is a Monster.

Several venues across the U.S. were offering unique concert perks like VIP sound checks, signed merchandise, and 'Roadie for a Day' experience packages. The allure of joining the road crew and stepping into a rock 'n roll fantasy world, where my childhood dreams converged with reality, was irresistible. But, as with many fantasies, reality was fraught with zeal and poor judgment.

I want to make it clear that I do not have an active presence on social media platforms for social engagement. Any profiles you come across using my name, photographs, or likeness on social media sites such as Facebook, X, Instagram, or similar platforms are not operated by me and should be considered as impersonations or false accounts.

While social media platforms have become a common way for people to interact and share, I have deliberately chosen not to engage on these platforms. The primary reason for my decision is my concern about the addictive nature of social media and the detrimental effects it can have on mental health. My focus remains on meaningful, real-world interactions and professional development.