The world is full of bullshit right now. Perhaps it’s always been full of bullshit, but I’m sitting here right now, and I feel that we – as a species – have taken the bullshit to an entirely new level. Strongly held beliefs are based on the flimsy opinions delivered by totally unqualified sham journalists… More
Rands
The Tinker List
Tinkering is a deceptively high-value activity. You don’t usually allocate much time to tinkering because the obvious value of tinkering is low. You don’t start tinkering with a goal in mind; you start with pure curiosity. I’ve heard about this thing, but I’ve never used it. How does this thing work? I’ve always wanted to… More
The Holiday Hole
This year’s Christmas presents hide right behind the closet door. Several boxes are on shelves while other packages are lamely stuffed in a festive Ted Baker bag on the floor. If you walked in the closet, you would see the presents with zero effort. Ten years ago, my children would’ve paid cash money to know… More
Kyle the Octopus
Eagle-eyed readers noticed resting on the best couch ever that there was an orange octopus. His name and how he ended up there is a great story. When my daughter was in elementary school, we participated in a program called Indian Princesses that started in kindergarten with graduation in 5th grade. Each month there were… More
A Destiny Public Service Announcement
Slack is fully integrated into my life. Over the course of the last six months, it’s become a rarefied default application for me. It’s still early in the day and the coffee hasn’t kicked, but I can’t think of the last application that became default. Probably Twitter? The communication gap that Slack is filling is… More
A Small Grey Leaf
At the bottom of an individual post on this site, you might notice there is a small grey leaf. No one has ever commented about this leaf. No one has ever asked about its significance. It’s a pleasant quiet ending to a post. There was a time when this version of the site was being… More
With Great Joy
It is with great joy and a little bit of sadness that I welcome you to next version of Rands. For a long list of dear friends, I’m “that guy”. I’m the guy who has told an endless number of people that the redesign of Rands has been just around the corner for the last… More
Scotland Errata
The camera on the new phone has the ability to take three separate pictures and then stitch the three together into a single panorama. It’s a slow process, but the end result is a photo which gives an entirely different perspective. I’m in Scotland all week and I was successful in completely ignoring jetlag until… More
Chaz The Deer
I ran cross country for many years in jr. high and highschool. A daily longish run became part of the regular routine. I was unable to sleep well unless I’d chewed up some nearby trail. Upon arrival at UC Santa Cruz, I found a gorgeous loop trail near the East Field House that I’d hit… More
Thanksgiving?
A list of things I don’t understand about Thanksgiving: How I can’t peel my eyes off the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Why I didn’t think to turn the sound off the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ten years ago. Why I always resist the walk around the hill my parents insist on doing, but always end… More