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The infirm leading the blind

31. July 2008

One of the things I love about the Internet is how it makes possible the most improbable meeting of minds. Take Patrick “Barry” Barr, a Jamaican who spent his working years in New York but retired fairly recently to Lima, Peru, of all places. I met him on Flickr a few years ago and over [...]

A land with many faces

18. July 2008

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Over the coming weeks, the posts on this blog might take a turn for the exotic, as I’ll be posting stories and photos from the far reaches of Peru. On the agenda: Hunting for megalodon teeth with Desert Man of Ica, who was recently written up in the New York Times. (Fortunately, we made our reservation [...]

Chances of survival

14. July 2008

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Job security. Got some? Got enough? If you’re wondering about your prospects in the current economy, you might check out the Job Security Score. It’s a questionnaire that claims to tell you whether you should rest easy or revise your resume. I have no idea how accurate the score might be. I tried to complete it, but gave up [...]

Punching the clock

8. July 2008

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When you work for an employer, it’s usually a pretty straightforward contract. You trade 40 or so hours of your week in exchange for a salary and some sprinkles. What happens during those hours is between you and your boss. But when you cut the tethers of employment and became a free agent, what’s the agreement? [...]

Permission, schpermission

2. July 2008

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Photo by Lars Klove It’s amazing how we need others to give us permission to break with societal norms and do the unthinkable. I don’t mean unthinkable acts like marrying your first cousin. Unless you’re royalty, in which case, it’s probably ok. Rather, I’m referring to what passes for unthinkable among neurotic social climbers in New [...]

In praise of whimsy

12. June 2008

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How serendipitous. A friend of mine sent an article that contained a link to the very story I had been wracking my brain to recall for some time. It’s about a college student who drops out, but chooses to follow his whimsy and takes the odd class in calligraphy. He never finishes college. Years later, however, [...]

Fail is a four letter word

10. June 2008

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I understand that J.K. Rowling’s commencement speech at Harvard caused a stir. While some students grew up reading Harry Potter and were delighted to hear her, others felt it was beneath the dignity of the school to have an author of (gasp!) children’s books speak to the future rulers of the free world. I don’t think [...]