It’s like–the word is at our fingertips, but we’ll never grasp it. We can forgive ourselves in the middle of a midwest winter, when it’s enough to just survive. But summer is the time of times. Summer is when we live and love. Summer is when anything is possible.
Summer is half over. Time is flying. […]

I’ve added an essay I wrote a while back to the Library page. It uses postmodern theory to critique organizational, and follows yesterday’s post with a more intensive academic analysis of institution.
It’s quite long. If you read it, please comment.
>A Postmodernist Account of the Organization

I want to continue to expound Abandonist political theory as introduced in this post. In particular I want to develop my statement that the abandonist renegotiates power through circumvention, not through competition.
Reformists cooperate. Revolutionaries compete. Abandonists circumvent.
But cooperate with what? Compete with what? Circumvent what?
The answer is institution–and this is tricky to define, but I […]

The Chicago Tribune reports that coffee roaster Intelligentsia will no longer be offering 20oz cups.
“Drinking our coffee is not like drinking jug wine,” said Intelligentsia Coffee founder and Chief Executive Doug Zell on Tuesday. “We’re focused on intensity of flavors and providing coffee in the way it tastes best. And it’s not in that size.”
I […]

Strange is the nostalgia I feel tonight. I’ve just arrived at the apartment after hours on the highway and crammed in public transportation.
The air is wet. I don’t hear any sirens, any inebriated yelling, any car horns; the city is resting tonight, but resting like a coiled spring. It feels just like it did four […]

It’s AMAZING.

Tsze-lu asked,
“If the Duke of Wei made you an advisor,
what would you address as the very first priority?”
Confucius replied,
“The most important thing
is to use the correct words.”
“What?” Tsze-lu replied.
“That’s your first priority? The right words?”
Confucius said,
“You really are simple, Yu.
The Sage keeps his mouth shut
when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about!
“If we don’t […]

Modern society has a predilection for centralization–the consolidation of resources. This has clear roots in Enlightenment thinking: use natural science to discover and build on the best ways to do things, and ultimately strive toward perfection. This crippling singularity does not reflect the complexity of the human experience.
There is no best form of government. There […]

A friend emailed me a while back because she had received a Facebook invitation that was riddled with sexist notions. She had tried to explain the problems to the male who had written it, but found it difficult to express herself to him when she was so frustrated and the whole thing was written half-jokingly. […]

The BBC reports that Anheuser-Busch has sold out to Belgium-based InBev.
Oh, Budweiser. You were too expensive, your fans were annoying, and your advertisements were so sexist–but I’ll be damned if you weren’t an American icon.
The irony tastes better than you ever did.